Malia Obama received millions from USAID? No, that's satire | Fact check
The claim: Malia Obama received $2 million in USAID funds
A Feb. 11 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of former President Barack Obama’s eldest daughter and claims a federal agency gave her a large sum of money.
“Can someone explain why Malia Obama received $2.2 million in funds from USAID?” text in the image reads. “Enquiring (sic), taxpaying minds want to know.”
The post presents the claim as legitimate news, with its caption reading in part, "The Deep State is Crumbling and the Crime of the Century is being EXPOSED!!! I want them ALL PROSECUTED."
Many commenters also viewed it that way.
"Oboma has been behid all this corruption (sic)," one wrote.
"Stop paying taxes. This has to stop. Democrats are out of control," wrote another.
The Instagram post received more than 10,000 likes in two days. Similar versions of the claim circulated widely on Facebook and on X.
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Our rating: Satire
This didn’t happen. The claim originated on a website that posts satirical content.
Claim rooted in post from satirical account
President Donald Trump is pushing for the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, accusing the foreign aid agency of being “corrupt” by spending money on projects the White House has called “malicious” and “ridiculous.”
There is no credible evidence, however, that any of those projects involved awarding millions of dollars to Obama’s daughter Malia. There are no credible news reports about USAID giving her millions.
Fact check: No, image doesn’t show real Trump post about Department of Education
The claim originated in a Feb. 9 Facebook post by America’s Last Line of Defense, which is part of a network of satirical accounts. Its intro section states that “nothing on this page is real,” and site operator Christopher Blair has previously told Paste BN that any content published by his accounts is fabricated.
The image in the Instagram post is identical to the one in the satirical post. Both include a watermark with the abbreviated name of the Facebook account, but the Facebook post contains no overt acknowledgment of the claim’s satirical origin.
Paste BN previously debunked false claims that Barack Obama would be allowed to run for a third term under a proposed constitutional amendment and that Obama said Trump “tried to kill” his first vice president, Mike Pence.
Paste BN reached out to several social media users who shared the claim but did not immediately receive any responses.
Lead Stories debunked a version of the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- America’s Last Line of Defense, Feb. 9, Facebook post
- America’s Last Line of Defense, accessed Feb. 13, Facebook profile
- Christopher Blair, Aug. 3, 2023, Email exchange with Paste BN
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