No official account of the talks included any such episode.
At the August 18 White House meeting, Donald Trump was accused of humiliating European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by asking her to leave so he could «speak with the leaders»—a claim first pushed by Irish-born pro-Kremlin propagandist Chay Bowes. The story racked up more than 1.3 million views and nearly 8,000 shares online, before being amplified by a string of Russian state-aligned outlets.
The claim is pure fabrication. International media closely followed the August 18 White House meeting, with outlets like CNN publishing detailed accounts from the scene. None reported any such «incident.»
On the contrary, after the talks Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had discussed with Ursula von der Leyen the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, calling the European Commission president distinguishing and highly respected.» Von der Leyen, for her part, thanked Trump for his stance and his «lear commitment today to ensuring these children are reunited with their loved ones.» Far from highlighting discord, their public statements underscored alignment on the issue—leaving no evidence of conflict or even tension between the two leaders.
The story originated with Bundestag Vice-President Omid Nouripour, who referenced the alleged «incident» during a German television appearance, calling such treatment of the European Commission president unacceptable. But Nouripour later walked back his remarks, issuing an apology: «An important clarification. In my initial comment, I referred to false reports. It is now clear: this is not true. Von der Leyen was there the whole time—together with all EU member states not present in Washington. Good and right,» he wrote.
Despite Nouripour’s correction, the story quickly gained traction after being amplified by Chay Bowes, an Irish national who has lived in Russia for years and built a reputation as a pro-Kremlin propagandist. Bowes first emerged in 2015 running an anonymous X (then Twitter) account that praised Vladimir Putin and urged him to attack Ukraine and «kill those Nazi dogs.» In 2023, he was invited by Moscow to address the UN Security Council, where he denounced NATO’s role in the war and cautioned allies against arming Kyiv. Today, Bowes works for Russia Today and remains a regular purveyor of Kremlin-aligned disinformation.
Russia has rolled out a full-fledged disinformation campaign around Donald Trump’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders. One of the fabricated claims tied to the summit has already been debunked: a story alleging that a banner in Washington urged Zelensky to «wear a suit» for his meeting with Trump.
