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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, apologized to the family members of the slain U.S. service members honored 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 air and extend our respect and condolences to the service members’ families. We honor the sacrifice of those six American heroes.”
Trump was criticized for appearing at the event to honor 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.
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President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance attend a dignified transfer ceremony for U.S. service members on March 7, 2026 (Getty Images)
“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.
“I’m old enough to remember Fox and the right losing their shit over pro-athletes kneeling during the anthem. How it was this grand disrespect for the troops. Trump posted about it quite a bit, that the NFL was woke. But now they make every excuse for his disrespect of the dead,” another X user wrote.
“Promoting his merchandise at a solemn ceremony. What a cad,” commented a YouTube user, Ramon Ramirez.
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The picture Fox News aired while saying that Trump was holding a “final salute” to the troops lost in Kuwait (Fox News)
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Six American service members killed in the ongoing conflict with Iran arrived home on Saturday (AP)
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 a former Republican congressman 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 former Rep. Adam Kinzinger. The ex-congressman became a top target of the president’s ire after serving on the bipartisan January 6 committee.
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Trump was criticized for donning one of his signature branded caps during the ceremony, which was seen as disrespectful to fallen service members (Getty Images)
The Independent contacted Fox News about the use of the updated footage on the network and the assertion that the footage was deliberately edited to hide Trump and his cap from the images onscreen, but did not get a response about the latter charge.
“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 apologize for the incorrect footage,” said a spokesperson.