Fake Trump post claims Musk 'totally' did a Nazi salute

A rumor that circulated online in June 2025 claimed U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that tech billionaire and former White House adviser Elon Musk "totally" did a Nazi salute. 

The alleged post read, "That totally was a Nazi salute that Elon did by the way. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it." The text displayed in the image referenced a moment from Trump's second Inauguration Day in January in which Musk raised his arm in a gesture that many compared to the stiff-armed salute historically associated with Nazism. Musk later blamed (archived) the "legacy media" for supposedly misinterpreting his actions.

Snopes readers emailed about this matter, with one person asking, "True or false? In the current feud between Trump and Elon Musk, the president has publicly commented on Musk's previously reported Nazi salute." Another reader also wrote: "There is a photo on Facebook that appears to be a Trump 'Truth' that says: Elon did in fact do a Nazi salute on stage and everyone knows it."

On social media, an X user posted (archived) the image of the alleged Trump post. That user's post, which received more than 1.5 million views, displayed a text caption suggesting the image was nothing more than a joke, reading, "Hahahaha this one is actually funny." Numerous users shared the purported Trump post image or quote on Bluesky (archived), Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived) and X (archived).

(Matthew Rife/X)

As the X user's post hinted, someone with the goal of creating a meme fabricated the image of the Trump Truth Social post that said Musk performed a Nazi salute. No such post appeared on Trump's Truth Social feed. There was also no sign of the post on Trump's Truths, a website that archives Trump's Truth Social posts.

The fake post screenshot circulated at the same time as a rift widened between Trump and Musk in early June, days following Musk's departure from his role as White House adviser. The rift began with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's disagreement over provisions included in a Republican-backed bill, referenced by Trump as the "big, beautiful bill," which features tax breaks and spending cuts. Musk called the bill a "disgusting abomination."

At one point during the back-and-forth between Trump and Musk, which mostly occurred on social media, Trump floated (archived) an idea on his Truth Social account of terminating federal subsidies and contracts associated with Musk's companies. Musk then fired back on X, alleging Trump appeared in unreleased government files associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk added (archived), "That is the real reason they have not been made public." He did not provide evidence to support his claim.

In an emailed statement to Snopes, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Musk's allegation about Epstein not by directly addressing Snopes' question but instead sending a general statement about the pair's feud. "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted," Leavitt said. "The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again."

For further reading, Snopes reported in early June that Musk shared another user's post who called for Trump's impeachment, and also posted that Trump "would have lost the election" without his support.