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Did Donald Trump own ‘slaves’ in Dubai? Here's the truth about viral claim
A claim about President Donald Trump ‘owning slaves’ in Dubai is going viral on social media
A claim about President Donald Trump ‘owning slaves’ in Dubai is going viral on social media. An X user, who goes by @MrsButters, posted about a documentary to make the bombshell claim. She cited a documentary titled ‘Trump in Dubai & China in Africa’. Her post has been retweeted over 1000 times at the time of writing this story.
“Trump owned slaves. In case you missed it and didn't know, Trump owned slaves. I used to work for Vice Documentary and HBO, and Vice did a documentary on Trump owning slaves in Dubai. The documentary is called Trump in Dubai and Africa, and China. The journalist is Ben Anderson, and you can find it for free on YouTube right now,” she said, further sharing the link to the documentary.
“And I think that documentary is extremely relevant right now as we just heard Trump say that, you know, maybe for immigrants, what can happen is that their owners can take responsibility for them if they work on farms or in hotels or just in different industries. I already made a TikTok about this, and it got taken down at like five or six million views because TikTok is a coward,” she further added.
What the documentary actually shows
The episode ‘Trump in Dubai & China in Africa’ (2016, HBO) reports on the harsh conditions faced by migrant laborers building projects tied to Trump’s name in Dubai. They worked grueling hours, often had their passports held by employers, earned meager wages, and were trapped by debt.
Journalist Ben Anderson investigates these labor abuses but does not allege that President Trump personally owned enslaved individuals in Dubai.
The reality vs the rumor
The claim that Trump ‘owned slaves in Dubai’ is inaccurate. The documentary reflects systemic labor exploitation in parts of the Gulf, not individual ownership by Trump.
Vice’s reporting describes forced labor conditions but stops short of labeling them as slavery under the law.
While labor rights abuses are serious, conflating exploitative conditions with outright ownership is misleading. There is no credible evidence behind the viral claim.
