FACT CHECK: Did The White House Recently Delete A Photo Of Covert Delta Force Teams It Posted On Social Media?

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A viral post shared on X claims the White House recently posted a photo on its verified Instagram account showing covert U.S. Delta Force teams and then deleted it.

Verdict: False

The claim is false. The White House made the Instagram post in October 2023, then deleted it after failing to obscure the troops’ faces in the photo, according to Fox News.

Fact Check:

Thousands of people protested near the White House on June 8 in opposition to Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, according to NBC News. The protestors also set up an encampment “in the Ellipse, the 52-acre park directly south of the White House,” the outlet reported.

“The White House deleted this photo of covert Delta Force teams operating inside Israel ONE hour after posting it,” the X post, which has received over 600,000 views as of writing, reads. “The US is at ‘WAR’ in Palestine,” it continues.

The post features a screenshot of an Instagram post shared to the White House’s verified account. In the screenshot of the Instagram post, President Joe Biden can be seen shaking hands with members of the U.S. Delta Force.

The claim is false, however. The White House made the Instagram post in October 2023, then deleted it after failing to obscure the troops’ faces in the photo, according to Fox News. According to the outlet, the image showed Biden meeting with the troops in Israel.

In addition, a White House spokesperson confirmed the mistake in a statement to the network’s Peter Doocy.

“As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo,” the spokesperson said, according to the outlet. “We regret the error and any issues this may have caused,” the same spokesperson added.

Fox News National Correspondent Bill Melugin shared the White House’s statement via his verified X account, writing, “NEW: The White House admits they accidentally doxxed US Special Forces by posting an uncensored photo of them [with] Biden in Israel.”

“This was the now deleted Instagram post from the White House, which was posted uncensored. @samosaur added the black squares in his post calling out this major OpSec blunder,” Melugin said in a second X post which showed the since-deleted photo.
Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting the White House recently shared and then deleted the post. Actually, the opposite is true. On June 10, Misbar reported the post was shared and then deleted back in October 2023. (RELATED: Fact Checking Biden’s Claim About Wage Increases Versus Inflation)
Check Your Fact has contacted the White House for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

Trending

FACT CHECK: Image Claims To Show Donald Trump Holding Someone's Hand To Help Him Off Stage
FACT CHECK: Did The Biden Campaign Try To Renegotiate The CNN Debate To Allow For The President To Sit?
FACT CHECK: President Biden Shared Video Of Trump Claiming Not To Care About Voters Is Missing Context
FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Young Ukraine Girls Being Recruited Into The Military?