France and Ukraine fed Trump false intelligence to test whether he would leak it to Putin

10 sources · 9 contradict · 1 neutral

What we can confirm

Multiple fact-checks and official or semi-official denials report that there is no credible evidence France and Ukraine ran a joint sting operation by feeding Donald Trump false intelligence to test whether he would leak it to Vladimir Putin, nor that such planted information was then leaked to Russia by Trump or his team. The story appears to originate from a misinterpretation and online exaggeration of comments by former French intelligence operative Vincent Crouzet about Ukrainian concerns over U.S. leaks, which referred to reduced sharing of sensitive intelligence rather than a deliberate operation involving fake information. Ukrainian intelligence sources quoted by Ukrainian media, as well as several independent fact-checkers, explicitly state that the alleged operation “has no objective basis or real grounds,” and classify the viral narrative as Kremlin-influenced disinformation. No declassified documents, official investigations, or reputable reporting substantiate the specific claim that France and Ukraine jointly fed Trump false intel that he then leaked to Putin.