A viral post circulating on social media claims that the U.S. President, Donald Trump, congratulated Morocco for being crowned the champions of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The post further suggests that he praised Morocco and mocked Senegal for walking off the pitch, leading to a forfeit.
A verified X user and media outlet, @JMNewsNetwork_ made the post on March 18, 2026, with the caption: “US President Trump congratulates Morocco after announced champions of AFCON 2025.”
As at March 18, the post had garnered over 10,000 views, 33 likes and eight bookmarks, with some comments having second thoughts about the authenticity of the news.
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CLAIM
The post claims that President Donald Trump posted a congratulatory message to Morocco following the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decision to overturn the AFCON 2025 final result.
FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
While the sporting events, AFCON, described in the post did actually happen, the screenshot of the claim is a fabrication.
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The claim was made after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Appeal Board officially overturned the result of the game on March 17, 2026, although Senegal won the final 1–0 on January 18, 2026.
The board ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match due to misconduct, specifically, an incident where players temporarily left the pitch in protest of a VAR-awarded penalty. Consequently, Morocco was awarded a 3–0 victory and the trophy.
However, there is no record of Trump making the alleged post. A review of his official archived posts reveals no mention of AFCON, Morocco’s victory, or Senegal’s forfeiture.
Additionally, there are no reports from credible local or international media organisations confirming that Trump made such remarks.
The screenshot also has multiple red flags commonly associated with fake post generators, including noticeable grammatical mistakes and awkward spacing. For instance, phrases like “nobody saw it cowing” instead of “nobody saw it coming,” and “overtnowed” in place of “overturned,” point to clear signs of manipulation or fabrication.
VERDICT
The claim that Donald Trump congratulated Morocco on winning the AFCON is FALSE. While Morocco was indeed declared the winner of AFCON 2025 by a CAF administrative ruling in March 2026, the viral claim is fabricated.
Seasoned writer and literary curator, Zainab Abdulrasaq is a factchecker for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached on IG @blackbookishgirl or zabdulrasaq@icirnigeria.org
