Xitter accidentally revealed the foreign influence campaign

For a brief moment Saturday morning, X (formerly Twitter) exposed a vast number of accounts belonging to MAGA influencers — and even government agencies — as foreign-based.

In what’s being called “the most sweeping public exposure of covert foreign activity on a major platform since the revelations about Russia in 2016,” even the Department of Homeland Security was swept up, when it was revealed that the account is being run out of Israel.

X’s Transparency Tool Triggers a Political Firestorm

The controversy began when X introduced a new transparency feature, “About This Account,” intended to show an account’s creation date, name history, and — crucially — its country of origin. Within minutes, users discovered that several high-profile, self-described “America First” accounts appeared to be operated overseas.

As screenshots spread across the platform, dozens of MAGA-aligned accounts were flagged as being based in Israel, Poland, Nigeria, India, Morocco, Thailand, Bangladesh, Chile, and other countries. Accounts with hundreds of thousands — in some cases, over a million — followers were suddenly revealed as foreign operators despite branding themselves as grassroots American nationalist voices.

One of the most widely circulated examples was @MAGANationX, reportedly based in Eastern Europe. Several large fan accounts for Donald Trump and members of his family also appeared to be run from Africa or Asia. Other prominent political commentary accounts were shown as operating from Nigeria, Thailand, and Bangladesh.

The wave of revelations called into question the authenticity of an influential segment of far-right political messaging on X, especially those accounts that have positioned themselves as defenders of American patriotism, anti-immigration policies, and domestic political narratives.

DHS Location Sparks Government Pushback

Amid the chaos, the official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) account was shown as being located in Tel Aviv, Israel. The allegation represents a profound breach of government communications security.

DHS quickly dismissed the claim as false, saying the account “has only ever been run and operated from the United States,” and warning that screenshots and videos can be manipulated.

Executives at X disagreed with that explanation, saying the screenshots were authentic and conceding, after pressure, that it was possible the feature could have briefly pulled outdated metadata from older accounts whose original registration information may have been incomplete or migrated through legacy systems.

Worth noting, however, is that only the Israeli-based US government accounts are making this claim. Other “older accounts” do not appear to have this problem.

The company temporarily pulled the feature offline and acknowledged “rough edges,” promising periodic corrections as engineers refine how account origin is determined.

Questions of Influence and Foreign Interference

Though X attributed some errors to technical issues, the number of verifiably foreign-operated MAGA accounts prompted widespread concern. Experts warn that foreign manipulation of American political conversations has been a persistent issue since 2016, when Russian digital interference became a central focus of U.S. national security.

The newly exposed accounts raise questions about whether foreign actors may be amplifying partisan narratives, elevating conspiratorial content, or posing as American voters and activists to shape public sentiment in the months leading up to major elections.

Digital researchers say the revelations underscore the failures of social media platforms face in balancing privacy, transparency, and the growing demand for accountability. Some policymakers are already calling for congressional scrutiny, warning that social media remains a vulnerability for foreign influence operations.

What Happens Next

Xitter says it will continue “refining” the feature and “correcting” location labels. But the brief window into the platform’s metadata sparked an unusually visible look at a longstanding problem: political accounts with massive influence may not always be what — or where — they claim to be.

The disclosures have intensified debate about foreign interference, digital transparency, and the fragility of online political discourse heading into another heated election season.

The use of foreign-based accounts to manipulate public opinion in America — especially those of our own government — validates the years-long attempts by myself and others of these accounts who often parrot the same talking points, write in the same styles, and favor MAGA beliefs and people.