A video shared on X purports to depict the removal of President-elect Donald Trump’s name from a hotel in Panama. The Verdict: Misleading. While the video indeed shows individuals taking down Trump’s name from a hotel, it is crucial to note that the footage dates back to 2018 and is not a recent occurrence. Fact Check: Trump has expressed his desire to gain control of the Panama Canal on multiple occasions, a proposal that the Panamanian government has rebuffed, according to a report by CBS News. Social media users are insinuating that the video demonstrating the extraction of Trump’s name from a hotel is a consequence of his statements. One user posed the question, “Why are they removing Trump name at his hotel in Panama?” This assertion, however, lacks clarity and context. It is accurate that the video exhibits the removal of his name from a hotel in Panama. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that the video is not recent and is unrelated to Trump’s remarks concerning the Panama Canal. The initial tweet from 2018 reads, “Trump name chiseled off the Trump International Hotel in Panama after weeks of tensions over control of the property.”
According to The New York Times, the elimination of Trump’s name stemmed from a property dispute between Trump and the principal owner of the hotel, Orestes Fintikli. Fintiklis remarked, “This is a purely commercial dispute that just spun out of control. And today this dispute has been settled by the judges and the authorities of this country.” Reuters has also conducted a fact-check on this assertion.