IN SHORT: Just days after the burial of former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga, a video of US president Donald Trump seemingly mourning him emerged online. However, the video has been manipulated; it combines an authentic clip with AI-generated audio.
Kenya’s former prime minister Raila Odinga died on 15 October 2025 after suffering a cardiac arrest in India, where he was receiving medical treatment. He was buried on 19 October at his home in Bondo, a town in Siaya county, western Kenya.
Shortly after the burial, a video emerged on social media showing US president Donald Trump seemingly sending his condolences.
“Raila Odinga was a great man and I feel so bad that he has left us. Kenya is mourning and America is mourning with you. Rest in peace brother Raila,” Trump appears to say in the video.
The video includes images of Odinga and the text: “RIP RAILA ODINGA.”
The 80-year-old Odinga was a prominent Kenyan politician who served as the country’s prime minister from 2008 to 2013. He also held positions as a cabinet minister and a member of parliament. Odinga had five unsuccessful presidential bids – in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022.
He was the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement party and served as Kenya’s opposition leader.
The video was widely reposted. But is it authentic? We checked.
AI-manipulated video
Local and international media extensively covered Odinga’s death and burial. They also highlighted condolence messages from world leaders. But we did not come across any messages, either written or in video form, from Trump.
There were messages from the US embassy in Kenya and senior government representatives, but not Trump.
Another indication that the video is not authentic is the mismatch between Trump’s lip movements and the audio, which strongly suggests that his words may have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These tools use computer algorithms to perform tasks that are typically carried out by humans.
We conducted a reverse image search of a screenshot from the video. This led us to similar videos of Trump in the same setting, both before and after his election, addressing various issues and criticising former president Joe Biden’s administration. None of these videos was from 2025, when the claim went viral.
The video in question combines authentic footage with audio generated using AI tools. The video makes false claims and should be disregarded.
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