Yes, Trump said, ‘They rigged the election, and I became president’

In March 2025, a video of U.S. President Donald Trump allegedly stating, “They rigged the election, and I became president,” circulated on the internet, with many claiming that he was referring to the 2020 election, which Trump lost to former President Joe Biden, as opposed to the 2024 election, as some users appeared to allege.

The claim that Trump made the remark spread across multiple platforms, including Instagram (archived), Bluesky (archived) and X (archived).

The video is authentic. The circulated clip is from a news conference on March 7, 2025, during which Trump met with International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino to sign an executive order establishing a White House task force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 event. Cities across Canada and Mexico, as well as the U.S., will host.

Beginning at minute 2:46, Trump said:

I love what he said, like three Super Bowls a day for a month. That’s what it is. That’s really amazing when you think of it. I’ve never heard that expression. That’s a lot. You know when we made this [plan] it was made during my term, my first term, and it was so sad because they said, ‘Can you imagine? I’m [you’re] not going to be president. And that’s too bad.’ And what happened is, they rigged the election, and I became president. So that was a good thing, that was a good thing, that was quite an achievement for both of us. So I’ll be president during the World Cup.

Although the clip is unaltered and the quote in question is authentic, Trump did not specify whether he was referring to the 2020 or 2024 presidential election. 

Sources