By Pascal Ibe

Claim

An X user, @Burt_Maclin_FBI, posted a video of a large number of troops moving in armoured tanks and claimed this was on the orders of President Trump to deploy troops into Chicago as he promised.

Verdict

This claim is MISLEADING. Findings have shown that the footage was from June 2025, during the military parade to celebrate the 250 years of the US Army in Washington, DC, and NOT recent.

Full Text

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would deploy National Guard troops to fight crime in Chicago, an extraordinary effort to militarize the country’s third-largest city that was likely to trigger a legal battle with local officials.

“We’re going in. I didn’t say when, but we’re going in,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson swiftly condemned the action.
“He just wants his own secret police force that will do publicity stunts whenever his poll numbers are sinking, whenever his jobs report shows a stagnating economy, whenever he needs another distraction from his failures,” he told reporters.

Hours earlier a federal judge blocked Trump’s administration from using the military to fight crime in California, a ruling that does not apply to other states. But the judge said that Trump’s stated desire to send troops to Chicago and other cities provided support for his ruling.

Regarding this, an X user, Burt_Maclin_FBI, posted a video of a large number of troops moving in armoured tanks and claimed this was on the orders of President Trump to deploy troops into Chicago as he promised.

The X user shared the video with a caption, “Trump has started moving troops into Chicago as promised. This is chilling footage…I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

The post has generated over 970k views with more than 10k likes.

Verification

FACTWATCH Nigeria subjected keyframes from the video to verify this claim.

The results from the Google Image Reverse Search showed that the video first appeared online in June.

In June, a news organization, Daily KOS used a screenshot from the video as a Feature Image alongside a headline that reads, “Tanks arrive in DC. But, will they leave?”

A YouTube channel, ViralCripsDaily, and other Facebook pages and the X platform shared the video in June, affirming it was before the 250th celebration of the US Army.

Background

People watch as fireworks explode near the Washington Monument following the US Army’s 250th celebration on Saturday, June 14, in Washington, DC.

It was the largest military parade that Washington, DC, has seen in decades.

Dozens of tanks and fighting vehicles are rolling through the capital’s streets today to celebrate the US Army’s 250th anniversary. Nearly 7,000 soldiers are set to participate in the event, which also coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.

Conclusion

A video published by an X user to depict troops recently moving into Chicago was from a June military parade in Washington DC.