No evidence Donald Trump is fluent in Japanese

A post on Facebook suggested that former President Donald Trump is fluent in Japanese, despite a significant lack of documentation of such a skill.

"Is Donald Trump a trained Quantum Physicist? I recently came across information that postulates Trump was tutored at MIT by a Japanese mentor," said a Facebook user in a post shared Jan. 13. "Also, learned Trump is fluent in Japanese. Interesting."

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Foreign language proficiency would come in handy for a president’s diplomatic affairs. Jimmy Carter spoke Spanish on his trips to Latin America, and Franklin D. Roosevelt was fluent in French and German. Roosevelt is believed to be the last multilingual president of the United States.

However, there is scant evidence that Trump is fluent in Japanese. The 45th president’s biography on the White House website makes no mention of foreign language skills. Neither does the Trump Organization’s biography of its founder. (PolitiFact reached out to the White House Historical Association and did not hear back.)

It’s unknown whether Trump studied any foreign languages at the New York Military Academy, Fordham University or the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania, because he has refused to publicly release his high school and college transcripts, The Washington Post reported.

As president, Trump used translators when meeting with foreign dignitaries, including those from Japan. During his first visit with then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in February 2017, Trump did not wear a translator earpiece for the opening remarks, according to reporters’ tweets. In photos and videos of the event, Trump is seen nodding along as if he understood Abe’s speech, even though Trump could not hear the English translation.

At the time, White House officials told reporters that Trump had previewed an English translation of the speech and had spoken with Abe about the topics extensively prior to the event. Trump wore an earpiece to hear translations after the opening remarks.

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In later visits with Abe and other Japanese officials — like this one in April 2019 — Trump also used an interpreter or a translation device.

A Facebook post claimed that Trump is fluent in Japanese.

There is no evidence that the former president is proficient in Japanese or any other foreign language. As president he required translation assistance.

We rate this claim False.