Vijitha Herath Did Not Meet Trump: Viral Photo Is AI-Generated

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A meeting with the US President would be major news for any Sri Lankan minister. A photo shared on social media suggested that Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath had just had one, soon after he attended the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. We checked whether such a meeting took place. Here are the posts that carried the claim.

Social Media Posts:

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Fact-Check:

No credible source reported a meeting between Herath and Trump

Minister Herath travelled to New York to attend the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, where he addressed the Assembly on behalf of Sri Lanka on September 28. Had he met the US President during the visit, mainstream media in Sri Lanka and abroad would have reported it. Our check found no such report from mainstream media, official credible sources, or government records.

We also found no record of any meeting between Minister Herath and the US President, either during this visit or on any earlier occasion.

Herath held talks with the UN chief and other foreign ministers, not with Trump

During the visit, the Foreign Minister met UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support Atul Khare. They discussed Sri Lanka’s contribution to international peacekeeping and progress on human rights. Lanka Newspapers also reported on the meeting with Guterres.

He also held talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Dr Seyed Abbas Araghchi, the UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal on strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in trade, tourism, and labour. More information is available here and here.

During the session, Minister Herath held talks only with the diplomats named above.

Trump attended the session, but the two held no talks

US President Donald Trump also attended the session. On September 22, the opening day of the 81st session, he addressed world leaders with a special speech. However, although both the Foreign Minister and the US President attended the session, Minister Herath and President Trump held no official or personal bilateral talks.

The Foreign Minister’s Media Secretary called the post completely false

When we asked, Minister Herath’s Media Secretary also said the social media post was completely false and that no meeting of any kind had taken place between the Minister and the US President.

The photo in the post was created using artificial intelligence

The photo in the post looked artificial and unnatural. Our check confirmed that it was created using artificial intelligence.

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Conclusion:

Our fact-check found that the post claiming Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath met US President Donald Trump is false. Both men attended the 81st UN General Assembly session in New York, but no meeting took place between them. No mainstream media outlet, official source or government record reported one, and the Minister’s Media Secretary denied it.

The Minister’s talks in New York were with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, two UN Under-Secretaries-General and the foreign ministers of Iran, the UAE and Nepal. The photo in the post was created using artificial intelligence.