A recent update to X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, has revealed that numerous accounts promoting pro-Trump content and “America First” ideology are actually operated from foreign countries including Thailand, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe.
The platform’s new feature displays an account’s country of origin based on IP address data directly on user profile pages. This technological change cannot be manually altered by users, unlike the previous self-reported location feature.
The revelations have caused significant disruption across the platform.
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh criticized the exposed accounts in strong terms. “If you aren’t from this country: We don’t care what you think about American politics. We don’t care what you think about American culture. We don’t care what you think about American elections,” Walsh wrote, adding “Your grift is over. Focus on your own problems.”
Many accounts that had built substantial followings by sharing content supporting Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have been identified as foreign operations.
One prominent example includes an account called “America First” with over 67,000 followers. Despite regularly posting content about Trump and other Republican figures, the account has been traced to Bangladesh.
Posts from this account now display a warning message stating the account is based in Bangladesh and may be misleading people about its American origins.
Another notable case involves the account “@1776General_” which identifies itself as a “constitutionalist, patriot and ethnically American.” The account’s actual location has been traced to Turkey.
The account operator defended the discrepancy by claiming to work in international business on a contract in Turkey.
The MAGANationX account, which accumulated nearly 400,000 followers and describes itself as a “Patriot Voice for We The People,” has been linked to Eastern Europe according to platform metadata.
Additional accounts affected by the exposure include IvankaNews, a fan account for Trump’s daughter that appears to operate from Nigeria.
The Dark MAGA account has been traced to Thailand, while the now-disabled MAGA Beacon account was posting from south Asia.
Democrat commentator Harry Sisson responded to the revelations by stating this represented vindication for those who had warned about foreign interference. “Seeing all of these MAGA accounts get exposed as foreign actors trying to destroy the United States is a complete vindication of Democrats, like myself and many on here, who have been warning about this,” Sisson wrote.
The exposed accounts have received numerous angry responses from followers who feel deceived. Critics have posted messages including “You’re busted” and “you don’t even go here.”
The feature has also exposed accounts in other categories beyond American politics.
Accounts claiming to provide firsthand reporting from Gaza have been identified as operating from Poland and East Asia. Scottish independence advocacy accounts have been traced to Iran, with some showing evidence of Iranian VPN usage.
Motasm A Dalloul, who presents himself as a “Gaza-based journalist” and includes a PayPal link for financial support, created his account in 2011 but is based in Poland according to X’s data. He disputed the location information by sharing a video he claims shows Gaza, though some users questioned its authenticity.
The Times of Gaza account, with nearly one million followers, has been traced to East Asia and the Pacific region according to X’s metadata.
