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NYT didn't reveal Pentagon plans to kidnap Zelenskyy

Jun 09, 2025 - snopes.com
A satirical story falsely claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the kidnapping of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was circulated on Facebook in June 2025. The story, allegedly written by "Curtis Llama" of The New York Times, claimed that internal Pentagon documents revealed a U.S.-Russia collaboration for the operation. Despite being shared over 1,500 times, the story was confirmed as satire, with The New York Times stating they did not publish it and that the named individuals, including "Curtis Llama," do not exist.

The Facebook account that posted the story confirmed its satirical nature in responses to commenters. The New York Times spokesperson, Naseem Amini, clarified that none of the writers listed are employed by the publication. Additionally, AI-detection software identified an image of a llama dressed as a reporter, included in the post, as AI-generated. The story's characters, such as "House Speaker Clay Harlow" and "Defense Secretary James Mattis," were also identified as fictitious or outdated.

Key takeaways:

  • The claim that The New York Times published a story about President Trump ordering the capture of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is false and originated as satire.
  • "Curtis Llama" is not a real reporter for The New York Times, and the story was not published by the newspaper.
  • Some characters mentioned in the story, such as "House Speaker Clay Harlow," do not exist in real life.
  • The image of a llama dressed as a reporter was determined to be AI-generated.
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