Propaganda sources are circulating a screenshot from Donald Trump Jr.'s Instagram profile, allegedly sharing a publication from Newsweek. In it, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi is quoted as saying he does not plan to attend Trump's inauguration. Trump Jr. is supposedly commenting that “the funniest thing is that he [Zelenskyi - Ed.] unofficially asked for an invitation about three times, and each time he was refused. Now he pretends like he decided not to go... what a weirdo”.

In reality, this screenshot is fabricated, reports the StopFake project. Donald Trump Jr. did not post anything like this. The Instagram page of Newsweek, from which the publication was allegedly shared by Trump Jr., does not contain a post with Zelenskyi's quote.

Additionally, publications such as Politico and The Economic Times, which have previously reported on Trump Jr.'s criticism of Zelenskyi shared on his Instagram, did not mention this incident. Had the publication been genuine, at least one of these outlets would have likely drawn attention to it.

Ultimately, the fabricated screenshot is being spread exclusively in pro-Russian segments of the internet, and it has not been published by any credible foreign or Ukrainian sources.

Earlier, in an interview with American journalist of Ukrainian descent Lex Fridman, Zelenskyi said he would not attend the inauguration without a direct invitation: 

“I would like to, but I will look at what is happening right now. I cannot come, especially during the war, unless President Trump directly invites me. It would just be inappropriate”.

This fake is part of an effort by Russian propagandists to claim that Trump supposedly does not care about Zelenskyi. In this particular case, they are portraying the Ukrainian president as excessively persistent.