Foreign-Based Accounts Masquerading as MAGA Supporters Exposed on X

A new location feature on X (formerly Twitter) has revealed that many popular pro-Trump accounts are actually operated from foreign countries, contradicting their claims of being American patriots and Trump supporters.

The revelation came after Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, announced on Saturday that the platform would begin displaying the country or region where accounts are located. “This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square,” Bier explained. “We plan to provide many more ways for users to verify the authenticity of the content they see on X.”

The feature quickly exposed numerous high-profile MAGA (Make America Great Again) accounts that had been posing as American conservatives but were actually based overseas. One account calling itself “ULTRAMAGA TRUMP 2028,” which claimed to be based in Washington, D.C., was revealed to be operating from Africa. Another account named “Trump Is My President” was found to be based in Macedonia before it was deleted following the exposure.

Perhaps most striking was an account posing as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s husband, Nicholas. While describing itself as an “America patriot [sic],” the location feature showed it was being operated from Nigeria.

These revelations have sent shockwaves through MAGA communities online, as many followers had believed they were engaging with fellow American conservatives.

The timing is particularly significant given the approaching 2024 presidential election, raising concerns about foreign influence on American political discourse. Since Elon Musk acquired the platform in October 2022, there has been a notable increase in MAGA-focused accounts that regularly receive millions of likes and engagements.

Other accounts exposed include:

• A profile claiming to provide news about White House Border Czar Tom Homan told its 31,400 followers it had voted for Trump and operated from Virginia, but was actually based in Eastern Europe.

• “AmericanPatriot,” with 143,300 followers supposedly posting from Florida, was revealed to be operating from Chile.

• “Fan Trump Army,” boasting 589,600 followers and previously elevated when President Trump quote-tweeted them on Truth Social, was discovered to be posting from South Asia. The account subsequently updated its biography to read “an Indian who loves America.”

• “Barron Trump News,” with 583,700 followers, was traced back to Eastern Europe.

The exposure coincides with Musk’s implementation of a monetization system allowing users to profit from viral content, which may have incentivized the creation of such accounts targeting specific political demographics.

The location feature was temporarily suspended shortly after its launch, prompting speculation about the reasons. Bier responded by telling users to “stop spreading misinformation,” explaining that the feature was temporarily disabled “because the account creation country was incorrect on a very small subset of old accounts, due to IP ranges changing over time.”

Images claiming to show the Department for Homeland Security was based in Israel went viral on social media, but Bier dismissed these as “fake news,” stating: “Location was not available on any gray check [government] account at any point.” X has since labeled these images as “manipulated media.”

According to Bier, there are still “a few rough edges” around the feature that should be resolved by Tuesday. The feature remains active for now, continuing to expose the geographic origins of accounts that had previously presented themselves as American conservatives.

The revelations highlight ongoing concerns about the authenticity of social media content and the potential for foreign actors to influence political discourse in the United States.