Kenya: U.S. President-Elect Trump Didn’t Say He Was ‘Coming For’ Kenyan President Ruto

US president-elect Trump didn’t say he was ‘coming for’ Kenyan president Ruto

IN SHORT: The video claims that Donald Trump said he would be “coming for” William Ruto, while pledging support for Israel. But the video twists and exaggerates a real news graphic, making it false.

A TikTok video shows a graphic of the newly elected US president, Donald Trump, speaking into a microphone and pointing at the camera.

Above Trump’s picture is the caption: “I will continue supporting Israel,But Ruto am coming for you.”

Below the picture is a red banner that reads: “Ruto must go” and a banner of Kenyan news website Tuko. A yellow banner below the logo reads: “Sad News to Ruto.”

A photo of Kenyan president William Ruto is at the bottom right of the graphic. The video is 18 seconds long and shows only this graphic along with dramatic music playing in the background.

In the comments section, which has over 180 replies, many of the top comments seem to believe this supposed Trump statement. The video has been shared over 400 times, received over 2,500 likes and been viewed over 173,000 times.

The context

The phrase “Ruto must go” became popular during 2024 protests in Kenya against a controversial finance bill. Some continued to use it after the protests due to frustrations with the Ruto government, including over the government’s handling of the protests and the state-linked abductions that followed.

Trump won the 2024 US presidential election and will be sworn in on 20 January 2025. Ruto congratulated Trump on his victory.

Kenya has traditionally had strong diplomatic relations with Israel. The country was criticised for abstaining from a United Nations vote in October 2024, calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Trump is known for making some controversial statements, but did he really say he would go after Ruto? We checked.

Original graphic sensationalised by caption

A reverse image search shows that the graphic in the video showing Trump’s photo was originally posted by Tuko on Facebook, but with a different caption. The original caption in the Tuko graphic, which was obscured in the TikTok video, read: “ODM MP explains why Donald Trump’s win is bad news for Ruto.”

The Tuko article was reporting on a tweet by an opposition party Orange Democratic Movement lawmaker, Caleb Amisi.

In the tweet, Amisi said that Trump’s victory could hurt Ruto’s government. He claimed that Trump would cut funding for US programmes in Kenya, such as the provision of free sanitary towels and mosquito nets. He also said Trump could stop funding Kenya’s security mission in Haiti.

Amisi went on to suggest that Trump would oppose Kenya’s recent designation as a major non-Nato ally, a status granted by the outgoing US administration under Joe Biden. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or Nato, is a transatlantic security alliance made up of 32 countries, including the US.

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The article simply referred to a Kenyan MP’s opinion on how the Trump administration might affect Ruto’s government. It did not quote Trump.

Furthermore, a search does not reveal any evidence that Kenya or Ruto figured prominently in Trump’s foreign policy. No credible news sources have reported such a statement by Trump.

The video exaggerates and misrepresents Tuko’s original story. This is a common trend on social media, where some posts are false or exaggerated to attract views and reactions.

The claim that Trump said he was “coming for Ruto” is false.

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