Trump didn't miss children's prior graduations – and judge didn't say he did | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: Judge said Trump didn't attend any of his other four children's graduations

An April 20 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows courtroom sketches of former President Donald Trump and Judge Juan Merchan.

"I need to go to Barron's graduation!" reads text beside the sketch of Trump.

The text beside the sketch of Merchan says, "Sir, you didn't attend the graduations of your other 4 children."

The post's caption says, "True story."

The post garnered more than 200 likes in four days. Other versions of the claim were shared on Instagram.

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Our rating: False

Merchan didn't say anything like this to Trump, and the claim is false in any case. He said he would consider adjourning for a day as long as the trial wasn't running behind schedule. Photos and news reports show the former president attended his other children's graduations.

Merchan didn't accuse Trump of missing graduations

Donald Trump's lawyers requested on April 15 that the ongoing hush money trial be adjourned for one day in May and one day in June so the former president and one of his lawyers could attend their sons' respective graduations.

USA TODAY previously debunked the claim that Merchan denied this request.

According to an excerpt from the trial's transcript obtained by CBS, the judge replied, "I cannot rule on those two requests at this time." He said he would be willing to adjourn the trial for one or both days if the trial was proceeding as planned but would not be able to if the trial was running behind schedule.

He didn't mention anything about Trump's other children.

Fact check: Donald Trump attended daughter Ivanka's graduation, contrary to viral claims

An array of sources show Trump attending prior graduations for his other four children.

USA TODAY previously debunked the claim that the former president skipped his daughter Ivanka's graduation. Ivanka Trump, who graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 2004, shared a photo of herself and her dad at the ceremony on Facebook in 2011. His presence was also reported on at the time by The Philadelphia Daily News.

One of Tiffany Trump's former classmates wrote an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times about Trump's appearance at their Viewpoint School graduation ceremony, and numerous news outlets reported on his 2016 presence at his youngest daughter's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania.

City & State New York reported on the former president's attendance at Eric Trump's 2002 graduation from The Hill, and the Democrat and Chronicle reported on his presence at his son's 2006 graduation ceremony at Georgetown University, as Snopes noted.

Snopes published a picture of the former president attending Donald Trump Jr.'s graduation as well at The Hill boarding school in Pennsylvania in 1996. The photo was captured by a member of the school's 1996 class, according to the outlet.

The user who shared the post couldn't be reached for comment.

Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge didn't say Trump skipped all children's graduations | Fact check

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