Fox News Apologizes for ‘Mistake’ After Backlash Over Old Trump Footage

Fox News is facing backlash for airing old footage of Donald Trump during Saturday’s (March 7) coverage of the dignified transfer ceremony.

The president was criticized for not removing his Trump-branded USA hat at the dignified transfer of six U.S. service members killed in his conflict with Iran. While Fox News initially showed footage from the ceremony, including Trump wearing the cap, they later switched to older footage of Trump at a similar ceremony, without a hat.

After mounting backlash, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Griff Jenkins addressed the situation on Sunday (March 8) morning, calling it a “mistake.”

“We want to acknowledge a mistake made earlier in our program. During our coverage of yesterday’s dignified transfer, we inadvertently aired video from an older dignified transfer instead of the ceremony that took place yesterday,” Jenkins said, per Deadline. “We deeply regret the error and extend our respect and condolences to the service members’ families. We honor the sacrifice of those six American heroes.”

According to The Daily Beast, Fox News went on to air footage from the correct ceremony, but cut out the section showing Trump saluting while wearing the USA hat.

“Fox’s dignified transfer footage now just completely excludes Trump,” MeidasTouch editor Acyn Torabi wrote on X.

Fox’s dignified transfer footage now just completely excludes Trump pic.twitter.com/hkUUNaQ1S4

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 8, 2026

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“This wasn’t a ‘mistake’ Griff Jenkins,” wrote the X account Bad Fox Graphics. “The main story out of Dover AFB yesterday was Trump’s undignified donning of a campaign baseball cap during the dignified transfer ceremony. @FoxNews was surely aware of this when they deliberately chose to air B-roll footage from December.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office wrote on X, “Fox News is lying for the president.”

“FOX News Media programs inadvertently aired file footage from a previous dignified transfer while discussing yesterday’s ceremony at Dover Air Force Base,” a network spokesperson told Daily Beast. “The archival footage was mistakenly used during the video sourcing process. We regret the error and apologize for the incorrect footage.”

The six soldiers killed in a drone strike in Kuwait last week were Nicole Amor, Cody Khork, Robert Marzan, Maj Jeffrey O’Brien, Noah Tietjens, and Declan Coady.