Fox News issued an on-air apology on Sunday after the network admitted that it “inadvertently” aired old footage of Donald Trump attending a ceremony for fallen soldiers at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, which masked the fact that the president wore a baseball cap for the solemn event.
On Saturday, the remains of service members killed in the ongoing war with Iran arrived back in the U.S. at a ceremony attended by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. The network aired footage purporting to be from Saturday’s event during an episode of Fox & Friends Weekend early Sunday morning, but the footage actually originated from a separate dignified transfer ceremony in December of 2025.
In a statement to the camera, the network’s weekend host, Griff Jenkins, apologised to the family members of the slain U.S. service members honoured on Saturday. “We want to acknowledge a mistake made earlier on 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 told Fox viewers. “We deeply regret the error and extend our respect and condolences to the service members’ families. We honour the sacrifice of those six American heroes.”
Trump was criticised for appearing at the event to honour fallen troops while wearing the hat by many online, including former RNC chair Michael Steele. The hat, a white baseball cap with gold lettering spelling out “USA”, is part of his line of branded merchandise. “This fool has ABSOLUTELY no sense of dignity or appreciation for the moment. It is called the Dignified Transfer for a reason. Take your damn hat off!!” wrote Steele on X.
The network continued to highlight Trump’s attendance at the ceremony throughout the day on Sunday, but X users noted that the network’s footage had been updated to use the correct version, which was edited to exclude Trump from the picture altogether. The reaction to the network’s apology was swift, including from former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger, who accused the network of intentionally airing the old footage to hide Trump’s apparel choice. “They ’made the mistake’ because they didn’t want to show Trump with a baseball cap on. Fox News rivals North Korean TV,” wrote Kinzinger.
A Fox News spokesperson said: “FOX News Media programs inadvertently aired file footage from a previous dignified transfer while discussing yesterday’s ceremony at Dover Air Force Base. The archival footage was mistakenly used during the video sourcing process. We regret the error and apologise for the incorrect footage.”
