DigitEye India Fact Checkers
As Shashi Tharoor-led delegation of MPs to the United States are making the headlines back home as part of India’s global outreach on Operation Sindoor, a video clip him criticising Donald Trump has gone on social media.
Without using the word chutiya, Shashi Tharoor has let the world know that Trump is a big …… in his inimitable style on US soil.
Precisely the reason he has been given such a huge responsibility to represent us on US soil. pic.twitter.com/nOYnxQlqOl— दीपक प्रभु (@ragiiing_bull) May 24, 2025
In the video, the Congress MP says that Trump’s ‘personal manner’ is not entirely ‘agreeable or pleasant’ for a distinguished American statesman. Further, he said Trump lacks the class, political heft, statesman-like gravitas and intellectual quality seen in former US presidents.
The video was being shared after Trump claimed success brokering ceasefire between India and Pakistan earlier this month after the Pahalgam attacks.
The video was aired among others by media outlet NewsX when Tharoor reached the US along with a delegation under India’s Global Outreach mission. The anchor in the video says: “Let’s also shift our focus to more developments. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and his team members of the all-party delegation on Operation Sindoor are in the United States. On the US soil, Tharoor has made a statement on Donald Trump. In fact, that has been going viral on social media. Let’s take a look”, before playing the clip.
While many other media outlets aired the video, it was uploaded widely on social media as seen here and here.
FACT-CHECK
Taking keyframes, Digiteye India checked them on Google Reverse Image Search and the results pointed out an old Instagram video, jointly posted by @asiasociety and @shashitharoor on September 24, 2024, months before Operation Sindoor and the armed conflict between the two countries.
The caption says that the Congress MP was speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Further check on YouTube yielded the full video of Tharoor’s interview at the JLF uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the Jaipur literature Festival in September 2024.
The context was entirely different. Trump was then a presidential candidate and not the US President. Moreover, Tharoor has never made any such scathing remarks against Trump this time (May 2025 visit) as a part of the Global Outreach mission. Hence, the claim is false.
Claim: Video clip shows Tharoor made scathing remarks against Trump in his recent US visit as part of the Global Outreach mission.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. An old September 2024 video of Shashi Tharoor criticising Trump at Jaipur Literature Festival session in New York is being shared as recent one.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
