Fact Check

Can the $20 Bill Be Folded to Spell 'Trump'?

You could no doubt fold the bill into several different words.

by Bethania Palma, Published Dec. 17, 2019


Pile of new series American money twenty on top.

Full frame pile of new American money. Twenty dollar bill on top. Related:


Claim:
The $20 bill can be folded to spell the name "Trump."
Rating:
False

About this rating


In December 2019, social media users shared a meme containing a picture that purported to demonstrate a $20 bill could be folded to spell the last name of U.S. President Donald Trump in a "hidden" message.
 


The photograph is misleading for several reasons. For starters, the $20 bill doesn't have lettering in the area where the bill is folded to spell out "Trump."
 


Instead, it appears that one or more $1 bills were folded inside the $20 to give the illusion:
 


Because the letter "P" does not appear in the phrase "The United States of America" on the $1 bill, someone apparently used a marker to turn a "D" into a "P" in order to finish spelling "Trump" in the meme.

And finally, anything with lettering on it that can be folded can be used to create whatever "hidden messages" the letters allow.

We therefore rate this claim "False" because the picture in the meme is misleadingly manipulated to make it appear "Trump" can be spelled by folding a single $20 bill, thus it is not a "hidden message" embedded in currency that was in circulation well before Trump's presidency.


By Bethania Palma

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who has been working in the news industry since 2006.


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