Former U.S. president Donald Trump’s donation of water bottles with a “Trump” label during his visit to the site of a toxic train derailment in Ohio on Feb. 22 is spurring claims online that the bottle brand was discontinued in 2010. Some posts online added the water was therefore not safe to drink. Trump Ice, the brand that users are referring to, has indeed been discontinued, but this is not the same brand of bottles that Trump donated in Ohio.
A freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3, resulting in spills that left the surrounding area with levels of toxic material that is yet unknown, according to Reuters reports (here), (here), (here).
A tweet said: “Trump Water was discontinued in 2010. He's giving away plastic water bottles that have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere for THIRTEEN YEARS. Safer to ditch water from next to the rail line” (here). It includes a screenshot showing that Trump Ice water bottles were discontinued in 2010.
More examples can be seen on Facebook (here) and (here).
On Feb. 22, Trump indeed donated pallets of water bottles with a “Trump” label during an event at a fire station to speak about the recent train derailment. Photos from the event can be seen (here), (here), (here).
A closer view of the bottle, labeled Trump Natural Spring Water, can be seen in a Reuters photograph (here).
Users online appear to be referring to Trump Ice spring water (here), which was reportedly discontinued in 2010 (here).
A Trump Ice water bottle can be seen in a 2016 photo of a display at the Trump Museum (here). The bottle has a visibly different logo to the ones Trump recently donated in Ohio.
Trump Ice appears to have since been rebranded as Trump Natural Spring Water, according to reports (here), (here), (here).
Spokespeople for Trump and the Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
VERDICT
Misleading. Donald Trump donated Trump Natural Spring Water during a visit to the site of the toxic train derailment in Ohio, not the discontinued Trump Ice brand of water bottles.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts (here).
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.