At the beginning of February 2025, he states on social networks that Donald Trump Jr. , son of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, had illegally killed the ducks in Italy. For example, a user published the claim on X (filed) on February 3:
The Post had 2. 5 million insights to date, and had been shared more than 11,000 times.
It is true that politicians in Italy have accused Trump of illegally hunting a protected species and have filed court cases opposed to him, legal proceedings have not yet begun. The type of duck in the video had not been confirmed, and it was unclear if Trump himself shot it. For these reasons, we have evaluated this statement as an aggregate of facts and indeterminate information.
On February 3, Andrea Zanoni, a regional councilor of Veneto, the Venice region, described Trump’s accusations in a Facebook post:
A translation of the post to English showed that Zanoni had reported the incident to the Veneto regional government, and that Luana Zanella, a member of the Italian parliament, had reported it to the Italian government (emphasis ours):
In a video of Field Ethos, the global adventure search, I watched several scenes of ducks in the Venice Lagoon, recently filmed in Valle Pierrimpié in Campagna Lupia (VE).
[…]
The video shows people, adding Donald Trump Junior, as they kill several ducks.
The video shows Trump J. with a Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferrugginea) in the foreground, a duck that is very rare in Europe and protected by the EU Birds Directive and by the Italian law on the protection of wild fauna, L. 157/1992. Killing or keeping this animal is punishable by law and therefore, under Italian law, constitutes a specific crime under the jurisdiction of the judiciary.
Only citizens of one of the Italian regions can hunt in Italy because it is mandatory to have a hunting permit issued through the law through the applicant’s region of residence.
I have submitted a question so that the Region reports what sanctions it intends to implement, such as the suspension or revocation of the authorization against the hunting wildlife company and those responsible for acts in violation of Italian and European regulations. The Hon. Luana Zanella of the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra [Left and Green Alliance] did the same thing, addressing it to the Italian government.
[…]
The existing government of Meloni is now to be maintained with a leash through the new political agenda of the United States, with training of the USAF army in EU-Spaces in the Treviso region (I reported the events last week in relation to the Piave tombs site in Ciano del Montello) and now Trump’s son is hunting species in the Venetian lagoon.
Veneto and Italy are US properties.
The politicians founded their accusations in a widely shared video in which Trump shows what he calls “a quite rare duck for the region”, which his accusers have known as Shelduck, a species in the Bird Directive of the European Union, as well as the Italian. and the Italian law. The Ruddy Shelduck is one of the indexed species in the list of European red birds, which evaluates the threat of extinction of the birds of the continent.
Zenella also said that Trump, as a nonresident, might not have received the hunting license.
The regional newspaper Corriere del Veneto published the video, which was reportedly produced by Field Ethos, a company Trump has cofounded that organizes hunting adventure trips. We could not find the original video on Field Ethos’ website or YouTube feed. The video also appeared in an article by The Guardian, credited to Corriere del Veneto.
Guardian’s article quoted Massimo Buconi, president of the Hunting Federation in Italy, saying that even if it were not true that Trump was forbidden to hunt in Italy to not be a resident, if the duck in the consultation was observed as a fog , Trump’s shooting would be illegal. “At a glance, it looks like an order of Shelduck,” he told Guardian. “I don’t know if he is in America, but in Europe and Italy, he can’t expel him. “
The Italian media reported that Trump had visited Italy with his girlfriend, Bettina Anderson, in December 2024, which could have been the filming of the video.
We contacted Zanoni, Zanella, Buconi and Trump to verify the main points of the story. We have also contacted the ethics of the table to request more information.
Snopes has already tried the legitimacy of a symbol that appears to Trump holding an elephant tail cut an African hunting trip.
“Donald Trump Jr. criticized Italian lawmakers for alleged duck hunting. “Politico, February 4, 2025, https://www. politico. eu/article/donald-trump-jr-iraly-duck-hunt —footage-birds-animals-shooting/.
European bird list. 2021, https://www. birdlife. org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/birdlife-european-list-of-birds-2021. pdf. pdf.
‘Home’. Andrea Zanoni, https://www. andreazanoni. it/. Consultado on February 5, 2025.
“Italian politicians are looking for an action opposite to the Trump Jr. hunting party for allegedly killing a duck. ” -415A449C345800EE974BC12738FC4BE1.
Niranjan, Ajit and Ajit Niranjan Europe Corresponding Environment. ” Donald Trump, accused of having killed Bird protected in the Venice lagoon. “The Guardian, February 4, 2025. The Guardian, https://www. thegudian. com/world/2025/feb/04/donald-trump-jr-accusse-of-killing-protéted-bird-in-venice-lagoon .
Roeloffs, Mary Whitfill. “Donald Trump Jr. accused of killing a duck in Italy. ” Forbes, https://www. forbes. com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/02/04/donald-trump-jr-acused-of-killing-potted-du-du-in-itally/. Retrieved on February 5, 2025.
“Adventure and great devices of devices. ” Ethos of earth, https://fieldos. com/. Retrieved on February 5, 2025.
The Birds Directive – European Commission. January 23, 2025, https://environment. ec. europa. eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/birds-directive_en.
XIX Legislature – Diputati and Organi – Splaka Deputato – Zanella Luana. https://www. camera. it/leg19/29?SHADOW_DEPUTATATO=300469&IDLEGALURE=19. Retrieved on February 5, 2025.
Anna Rascouët-Paz is in Brooklyn, fluent in many languages and specializes in clinical and economic issues.