An X account known for spreading fake news posted on February 28, 2025:
“USAID paid TIME $4 million to make Zelensky Person of the Year. A shameful revelation.”
The video, which displays the New York Post logo at the beginning, claims that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) paid TIME Magazine $4 million in 2022 to place Zelensky on the cover as Person of the Year.
The same false claim and video were also shared in English posts ahead of Zelensky’s February 28 visit to meet Donald Trump at the White House to discuss a rare earth minerals agreement.
The meeting between Zelensky and Trump ended in a heated exchange, and it remains unclear how the U.S. will proceed in mediating the Russia–Ukraine war.
The false posts began spreading after the Trump administration, led by billionaire Elon Musk, cut funding and laid off staff at USAID and other federal agencies. Musk has scrutinized U.S. government media funding and repeatedly accused news outlets of receiving improper state support.
Earlier, Musk shared a doctored E! News clip falsely claiming USAID paid millions to actor
Ben Stiller to visit Ukraine and boost Zelensky’s international image.
However, the video linking U.S. agencies to Zelensky was fabricated and never appeared on the New York Post website.
“That is not a real video,” said Eva Benson, spokesperson for the New York Post, in a statement to AFP.
TIME Magazine also denied the claim, informing AFP:
“TIME has not received any money from USAID or any organization to name Zelensky Person of the Year. The selection is made solely by TIME’s editorial team.”
A search on USAspending.gov, the U.S. government’s public spending database, revealed no evidence of USAID funding to TIME Magazine.
On February 27, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation posted on X that the video is “fake,” stating: (Record Link)
“This is disinformation. The video circulating on social media is not a real New York Post report and is part of a coordinated attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky at the international level.”
❗️A fake video is spreading on the social network X, allegedly from the American publication New York Post, claiming that USAID supposedly paid Time magazine $4 million to name Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “Person of the Year.” pic.twitter.com/b4auXn5nYQ
— Center for Countering Disinformation (@CforCD) February 27, 2025
Read AFP’s fact-check reports on the Russia–Ukraine war here: insert the link
Source: AFP
