Does a video show general telling troops Trump’s Portland deployment is distraction from Epstein files?

A rumor that circulated online in early October 2025 claimed a video showed a U.S. general telling National Guard troops that President Donald Trump’s administration deployed them to Portland, Oregon, to draw public attention away from the alleged existence of files concerning deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The claim touched on unproven allegations alleging undisclosed government files regarding Epstein’s past not only mention Trump’s name but also say he engaged in sex with underage girls. Trump has previously denied knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes.

One Snopes reader who emailed about the rumor wrote: “Did [a] general tell troops [their] deployment to Portland was to protect Trump about Epstein files? Seen 10/3 on Bluesky, with video.”

In a Bluesky post (archived) from Oct. 1, a user shared the video with the text caption, “Lt. General tells his troops about the why they are going to the War Torn City of Portland OR. OPEN THE EPSTEIN FILES.” Other users also shared the clip on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Reddit (archived), Threads (archived), TikTok (archived) and X (archived). The most commonly posted text caption read, “Troops against Trump. Portland isn’t the battlefield.. it’s the files.”

The aforementioned Facebook post (archived), receiving well over 1 million views, featured a text caption including the handle @8secondthings. A Google search located an Instagram user named @8secondthings, whose feed showed the user created the video with an artificial-intelligence tool and posted the clip on Sept. 29. The user’s bio described the inauthentic content as “AI satire” and “AI parody.” Other videos the user shared matched the same onscreen graphics design displaying spoken text.

In other words, the video was fake and a user claiming to create parodical and satirical content created it with an AI tool.

Snopes contacted @8secondthings via a private message to request the name of the AI tool used to create the video, as well as other details, and will update this article if we receive more information.

The Trump administration’s early-October deployment sent 200 National Guard troops to Portland. Trump previously posted (archived) on his Truth Social platform that he intended to “provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” and added, “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.” Meanwhile, state and local leaders, including Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, objected to the decision, with the governor saying, “Oregon is our home — not a military target.”

Digging into the rumor

Instagram user @8secondthings’ original Sept. 29 post (archived) featured the text caption, “Troops against Trump. Portland isn’t the battlefield.. it’s the files. #ai #parody.” The video also displayed a thumbnail image with the caption, “He’s using us to distract from the Epstein files.”

In the AI-generated video, the person speaking, whose uniform displays the name “Blum,” talks about Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, including saying:

Listen up. Command says Portland’s apparently a war zone. I’ve seen real war zones. And this ain’t it. Our deployment here isn’t about protecting America. It’s about protecting Trump. He’s using us to distract from the Epstein files. And I’ll tell you this: He’s more afraid of that list than any enemy I’ve ever faced. The real battlefield isn’t Portland. It’s that list. Release the files!

A Google Images search for the name “Blum” and the keywords “US Army addresses troops” located a still photo hosted on the National Guard website showing the same scene depicted in the AI-generated video. That picture’s caption identified the man speaking as National Guard Bureau Chief Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, and said the image depicted troops “who are about to deploy to the warfight overseas.” The caption also provided the photo’s capture date as Aug. 16, 2007, and its location as Fort Dix in New Jersey.

In other words, the scene depicted in @8secondthings’ AI-generated video originated from a photo capturing a scene that occurred 18 years earlier. The New York Times reported Blum retired from the military in June 2010.

(Image courtesy of Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill/National Guard)

For further reading, a previous investigation of a claim confirmed Trump once called Epstein a “terrific guy,” and added, “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Sources