No, Croatia’s president didn't wear a MAGA cap to celebrate Trump’s victory

What is the claim?

A video circulating on social media claims that Croatian President Zoran Milanović wore a “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” cap to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory in the recently concluded 2024 U.S. presidential elections. The viral clip shows a gathering outside a building where a man puts on a red cap with “Make America Great Again” written on it; social media users claimed that this person is Milanović. 

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the video and wrote, “Zoran Milanović, the President of Croatia, puts on a “Make America Great Again” ball cap during a press briefing. World leaders are excited for America to have a competent President again.” Archived versions of such posts can be found here and here.

Screenshots of the social media posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that the claim is false. A video of Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska, the majority-Serb territory within Bosnia and Herzegovina, celebrating Trump’s victory, was incorrectly shared as Milanović wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap.

What are the facts?

We conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video and found that the man in the video is the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, not the president of Croatia. The Bosnia and Herzegovina-based news outlet Klix.ba reported that Dodik hosted a cocktail party at the Palace of the Republic in Banja Luka to celebrate President-elect Trump’s win. He also appeared publicly and wore a “Make America Great Again” cap during a press briefing. At the cocktail party at the presidential palace, he said, “This is our victory.” The report also included photos similar to the viral video.

Radio Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS) vijesti published the video (archive here) on Facebook on November 6 and stated that it shows Dodik with citizens in front of the Palace of the Republic after Trump’s victory. A few images (archived here) of Dodik wearing the red cap have also been posted on the Facebook page.

RTRS also reported that Trump’s win in the U.S. election led to the American flag being displayed once again at the Palace of the Republic. President Dodik held a reception, expressing hope that the new U.S. government would show greater fairness toward Srpska. Dodik stated that it is important for Republika Srpska to send this message. "Here, in front of the palace, we congratulate Donald Trump on this great victory, which we also hoped for. This is our victory as well," he said.

Furthermore, we compared the man in the viral video with an image of Croatian President Milanović, which clarified that they are not the same person.

The image shows President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik (L) and Croatian President Zoran Milanović (R). (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts) 

Did the Croatian president put on the MAGA cap? 

There are no such reports of the Croatian president putting on the MAGA cap to celebrate Trump’s victory. However, he did congratulate President-elect Trump on the election win on Facebook (archived here). He wrote, “Congratulations to Donald Trump on his victory and election as president of the United States of America. The new president of the United States was elected by a clear majority of American citizens out of all who voted, and in any democracy, the will of the majority of voters is imperative. Since gaining Croatian independence, the USA has been a partner and friend of Croatia, I am convinced that it will remain the election of a new president.” 

The verdict

The video showing the President of Republika Srpska celebrating Donald Trump’s win while wearing a MAGA cap is being shared with the false claim that the man in the video is the president of Croatia.