Fact Check: Was Donald Trump knighted by Queen Elizabeth II?

While it is undeniable that the world grieving the death of Queen Elizabeth II, some rumors that have never been heard of before are spreading like wildfire. One of them is that former American President Donald Trump was knighted by the Queen. Several posts claiming the same have been doing the rounds on social media.

All of this started when a user posted a screenshot of what looked like Trump’s official social media handle, which tweeted:

“I never told anybody, but she knighted me in private."

This screenshot was posted by a Twitter user named Braxton. The user captioned this screenshot:

“This is what happens when you take too much Adderall.”

But was this tweet really penned down by former US President Donald Trump?

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Did Donald Trump write the tweet about Queen Elizabeth knighting him?

While the screenshot posted by the Twitter user displays that the tweet was written on Donald Trump’s account, when one searches his Twitter handle for this tweet about Queen Elizabeth, it does not appear. Hence, it has been made clear that no such post is available on Donald Trump’s Twitter page.

The tweet, which has been shared more than 5000 times, was not made by Donald Trump. This is nothing but a fabricated tweet that has been generated using the various software available online.

Liz Harrington, the spokesperson for Trump, also confirmed the news by saying:

“This is not real.”

Meanwhile, popular BBC journalist Alistair Coleman tweeted and clarified:

“I’ve gone and looked on Truth Social to see if Donald Trump posted this claim that he was secretly knighted by the Queen. Either it’s been deleted, or he never posted it at all. His timeline is heavy with pictures of him and Her Majesty, but there’s no trace of this post.”

However, there are many people on social media who are buying this news that Trump has really tweeted about getting "privately" knighted by Queen Elizabeth. One of the users posted:

"Lol the queen does not simply knight someone, also it's an event these days. Trump just can't not lie about anything."

While Trump might not have been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, the two met for official purposes back in June 2019. The Queen hosted a lunch for the former US president at Buckingham Palace. Along with Trump, the first lady, Melania Trump, also paid a visit to the Queen.

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Not Donald Trump, but other Americans who were knighted and received honorary titles from the Queen

While the news of Donald Trump receiving an honorary title from Queen Elizabeth II has been debunked, there are still other Americans who have received notable titles and have been knighted by her. Some of the people on the prestigious list include George H. W. Bush, Mark Getty, Paul Getty, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Ralph Lauren, Steven Spielberg, and more.

At the same time, Queen Elizabeth II has always been quick to honor talents and people who bring glory to the country. Thus, she knighted a lot of athletes from around the world as well. Some of them include Football player Pelé, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, London Olympic gold-winning cyclist Bradley Wiggins and tennis champion Andy Murray.