Overview
- Lead Stories and other outlets identified the January 2 Truth Social image as a European red kite, matching a 2011 Telegraph photo taken in Spain.
- AFP and Lead Stories previously traced Trump’s late-December post to a 2017 image from Israel and experts said the bird shown was a kestrel, not a bald eagle.
- An unofficial White House account and the U.S. Department of Energy amplified at least one of the misidentified images on X, drawing further scrutiny.
- Researchers cited by AFP and Lead Stories report wind turbines cause a small fraction of total bird mortality, with U.S. eagle deaths from turbines estimated in the hundreds.
- The administration has concurrently moved to restrict offshore wind, pausing five East Coast projects and canceling hundreds of millions of dollars in funding as federal wildlife regulators continue to issue permits and fine violators.