In late March 2026, a rumor spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump was seen in security footage mistakenly negotiating with White House patio umbrellas for six hours. The claim circulated in the weeks following the United States and Israel starting a new war with Iran.
For example, one Instagram user posted (archived) a video that featured the words "BREAKING NEWS" and "TRUMP NEGOTIATES WITH PATIO UMBRELLAS!" The clip showed a man wearing a cap and mask over his face, saying, "Breaking news. Trump was just caught negotiating with patio umbrellas saying they looked Iranian."
The footage ended with the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" HBO TV show theme song and a meme with an image of Trump and three patio umbrellas. The words in the meme read, "'They Looked Iranian': Security Footage Shows Trump Negotiating With White House Patio Umbrellas for Six Hours." The video amassed more than 100,000 views.
(@fiveheadedangel/Instagram)
Some users seemed to interpret the rumor about Trump speaking to umbrellas as true — or at least question its legitimacy — while other users' comments reflected they could tell it was a made-up story. Snopes received reader mail via our contact form asking us to investigate the matter.
In short, the claim is fictional. The owner or owners of The Shovel — an Australian-managed website hosting satirical stories — first published an article (archived) promoting the fabricated tale on March 24. The Shovel shared the story in posts on Bluesky (archived), Facebook, Instagram, Threads (archived) and X (archived). Some of those posts feature the same meme displayed in the above Instagram user's video.
Snopes contacted the The Shovel via email to ask about how some users' comments appeared to suggest they believed the story about Trump speaking to White House patio umbrellas
The Shovel's article and mentions of satire
The Shovel's satirical article about Trump negotiating with White House patio umbrellas begins as follows:
Donald Trump's supposed 'talks' with Iranian officials were actually with a bunch of patio umbrellas in a White House courtyard, it has emerged.
Security footage shows The President speaking for hours to the umbrellas, urging the outdoor fixtures to "come to the table and make a deal."
It explains the conflicting accounts about supposed talks between the two nations, which Iran insists have never taken place.
In a media conference later, Trump said the talks had been positive. "I had tremendous talks with the Iranians. Very strong, very positive."
The article page does not contain any mentions of satire, nor does the website's "About" page. A separate page about hiring writing contributors features the line, "So if you think you've got a knack for satire, and you want to contribute, we'd love to hear from you." The website's membership page also mentions satire with a sentence calling The Shovel's content "Australian satire."
A Google search uncovered no evidence of news media outlets reporting on a story about security footage being released showing Trump negotiating with umbrellas, which would have been newsworthy if the story were authentic (archived).
For further reading, Snopes previously reported about Trump repeatedly telling false stories about the invention of the paper clip, in which he compared the invention to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We also investigated another repeated story in which he believed grocery stores keep apples in refrigerators. Regarding politics and umbrellas, in 2016, Snopes looked into a claim involving pictures of Trump and then-President Barack Obama, and their use of umbrellas.