ROME: An Italian regional politician said on Tuesday he had reported the son of US President Donald Trump for allegedly killing a protected species of duck while hunting in Venice lagoon.
Veneto region counsellor and environmentalist Andrea Zanoni said an online video from Field Ethos — published by the younger Trump and marketed as a “premier lifestyle publication for the unapologetic man” — showed “some people, including Donald Trump, Jr, killing various ducks.”
“In the video, Trump Jr is seen with a Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) in the foreground — a duck that is very rare throughout Europe and protected by the European Union Birds Directive and Italian wildlife protection law,” Zanoni wrote on social media.
Zanoni said killing the protected bird was a crime.
Neither Zanoni nor Trump Jr immediately responded to a request for comment from AFP.
In the video, republished by the Corriere della Sera daily, Trump Jr is seen shooting at ducks from a shelter before addressing the camera.
“Great morning, lots of widgeon, teal. This is actually a rather uncommon duck for the area. Not even sure what it is in English,” Trump Jr says, pointing to an orange-brown duck among at least six other dead waterfowl around him.
Zanoni said he had filed a question to regional authorities to know “what sanctions it intends to impose.”
He asked if these would include suspending or revoking the license of the wildlife shooting company “and those responsible for acts in violation of Italian and European regulations.”
Zanoni said the video was filmed recently in the Pierimpie valley south of the city of Venice, a special conservation area protected by European regulations that is known as the Middle Lower Lagoon of Venice.
Regional hunting and fishing counsellor Cristiano Corazzari told Italian broadcaster Rai that Trump Jr had been invited to hunt in a “privately-owned area” within the reserve, and had received permission.
“We have verified, the papers are all in order,” he said, without mentioning the shooting of a protected species of duck.
Italy’s Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin has requested a detailed report on the incident.
The Ruddy Shelduck spends the winter in South Asia and migrates to southeastern Europe and Central Asia to breed.
Italian politician says Trump Jr shot rare duck in Venice
https://arab.news/954ye
Italian politician says Trump Jr shot rare duck in Venice
- Donald Trump Jr: ‘This is actually a rather uncommon duck (pointing at a orange-brown duck, the rare Ruddy Shelduck) for the area. Not even sure what it is in English’
Burkinabe teen behind viral French ‘coup’ video has no regrets
- “Coup d’etat in France,” declared the video, posted by the 17-year-old, showing what appeared to be journalists reporting on an ongoing takeover by an unidentified colonel
- Posted on December 9 on TikTok, then shortly afterwards on Facebook, the post went viral, garnering more than 12 million views and tens of thousands of “likes”
PARIS: A Burkinabe teenager who used artificial intelligence to post fake news of a French coup on Facebook got more than he bargained for.
As well as millions of views and tens of thousands of “likes,” he also acquired a certain notoriety — and French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, was not amused.
And what he had planned as a money-making scheme only netted him seven euros, he said. But he has no regrets.
“Coup d’etat in France,” declared the video, posted by the 17-year-old, showing what appeared to be journalists reporting on an ongoing takeover by an unidentified colonel.
In one shot, the Eiffel Tower and the blue lights from a police car flashed in the background.
“Demonstrators have gathered to support the colonel who seems to have taken power yesterday,” said the reporters.
It was all fake, of course: the product of his online training in the use of artificial intelligence.
Posted on December 9 on TikTok, then shortly afterwards on Facebook, the post went viral, garnering more than 12 million views and tens of thousands of “likes.”
Last Tuesday, when Macron was asked about the video during a visit to Marseille, he spoke of his frustration at not having been able to force Facebook to take it down.
They had told him that it did not violate their rules, he said.
Money-making goal
In the end, it was the creator himself who deleted it, shortly after the French news media started contacting him.
Speaking to AFP, he explained that he had got into creating AI-generated videos last year after finding a training course on YouTube. But he only really started producing in October 2025.
He was taken aback by his sudden celebrity and that the French media was reporting on and even interviewing him.
He laughed about all the fuss in a video posted to his Facebook page.
But the teenager, who preferred to remain anonymous, was clear that his real aim had been to make money from advertising attached to his posts.
Not that he was living in poverty, he added.
“I eat, I can get to school, my parents take good care of me, thank God,” he told AFP.
But he wanted more to gain “financial independence,” he added.
He had seen “loads of pages that get millions of views” and had heard that TikTok paid money to producers, so he jumped into social media to see what he could do.
After a bit of trial and error, he latched on to AI-generated fake news because it generated more online traffic.
“I haven’t yet made a lot of money that way,” he admitted.
His Facebook page was not yet monetised, though he had made a little money from TikTok.
Normally, Africa is not a region that is eligible for monetization on the platform but he said he had found a way around that.
While his viral video on the fake coup in France may not have been a moneyspinner, he has used it to promote an offer of online training in AI-generated content on Facebook.
“There are people who have got in touch with me after this video, at least five people since last week,” he said.
For one hour’s coaching, he makes 7,000 CFA francs (10 euros).
No regrets
France is frequently the target of disinformation, in particular from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Since a string of military coups there, all three countries have distanced themselves from France, the former colonial power, and moved instead toward Russia.
The Burkinabe junta in particular has become adept at AI-generated propaganda videos. They have included false clips of celebrities such as singer Beyonce or Pope Leo XIV singing the praises of Ibrahim Traore, the military government’s leader.
Burkina Faso also has a group of influential cyberactivists who promote the government’s propaganda online, known as the “Rapid-Intervention Communication Battalion.”
The teenager behind the fake French coup video told AFP he was not part of that group.
But while his main motivation was far from being political, he was happy to take a passing shot at France.
“I also created this video to scare people,” he said.
Some French media personalities and politicians do not present a fair view of what is going on in Africa’s Sahel region, instead broadcasting “fake news,” he said.
He cited recent reports that the Malian capital, Bamako, was on the point of falling to jihadist forces.
Informed sources agree that if the military government there was in difficulty recently from a jihadist blockage of supply routes, it has not so far been threatened to the point of losing power.
The French authorities “have no regrets about publishing false statements on the AES,” said the teenager.
“So I’m not going to regret publishing false things about them!“
