... On June 9, 2025, a photograph of U.S. President Donald Trump spread online, claiming he was wearing a catheter under his suit while at an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event. The photograph in question showed fighter Kayla Harrison, who had just won the UFC women's bantamweight championship bout, putting her victor's belt around Trump's waist.
A number of posts on X, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok made this claim. One post stated:
Trump is absolutely wearing a Foley catheter.
It's a tube inserted into the bladder to drain urine into a bag strapped to the leg ...
We looked closely at footage of the 78-year-old president walking around at the event, as well as photographs of him alongside Harrison. At this time, we were unable to independently confirm whether he wore a catheter under his suit.
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung denied the claim in an email:
The President has been the most transparent president in history, and the recent medical report that was released clearly and unequivocally shows he is in peak condition. These conspiracy theories peddled by demented individuals hiding behind social media, and now being given a platform by the fake news, clearly suffer from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. These are the same people who have been caught trying to gaslight the American people for years by saying Joe Biden was cognitively fine, when in fact, he was in much worse condition than thought.
... The following YouTube video compiles a range of clips of Trump walking into the UFC arena and interacting with Harrison. At the 32-second mark, Harrison puts her championship belt over his shoulder. We paused at numerous moments in the clip and found there was a noticeable shadow on Trump's leg but no evidence of a bulge as he stood at that angle. ...
It is possible the bulge was visible when Harrison wrapped the belt around Trump's waist, pulling his pants back. However, there is no way to independently verify whether this bulge is from a catheter.
We also zoomed in on the image in question and found a similar shadow on Trump's other leg, indicating that the bulge is likely also just a result of the angle of the light. ...
