Published Aug. 19, 2026

In August 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump said of 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai's ocean rescue, "I don't know if I'd do it. I wouldn't, probably."

Trump allegedly made the remark while hosting Rai and Ryder Williams, the 16-year-old lifeguard who rescued Rai, at the White House on Aug. 17, 2026.

The Facebook page Occupy Democrats, which shared Trump's alleged statement, wrote:

This afternoon, at the White House, Trump hosted a life guard, 16-year-old lifeguard, who saved 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai, looking to get a little good PR with a feel-good event to honor a real hero. Of course, he then immediately ruined it by telling the kid he wouldn't have saved him. "I don't know if I'd do it," the president said. "I wouldn't, probably. You're lucky I wasn't on the service that day."

Claims about Trump's purported remarks also circulated on Instagram (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived). Snopes readers contacted us about the claim.

Trump made the above statement. As such, we've rated this claim as correctly attributed, with an important caveat: some users (archived, archived) misrepresented Trump's remarks by claiming he told Rai that he would have outright refused to rescue him. That was not the case.

According to a recorded livestream of the interaction between Trump, Williams and Rai, Trump said of Williams, discussing the rescue (time code 7:40), "He's a real hero. You know, when you see that — I don't know if I'd do it. I wouldn't, probably." Trump appeared to direct this comment to people in the audience rather than Rai himself. Several people in the room laughed.

Trump then turned to Rai and continued, "You're lucky I wasn't on the service that day."

When viewed in their full context, Trump's remarks show he appeared to consider the idea of carrying out such a rescue, concluding that he "probably" would not have rather than outright refusing the idea.

Trump also told Rai he was "lucky" the president was not on shift as a lifeguard the day he needed rescue. This suggests the president may believe he would either be unwilling or unable to carry out the rescue. It was unclear exactly what Trump meant by his remarks or whether he meant them as a joke.

We contacted the White House to ask for context about Trump's comments and await a reply.

According to The Associated Press, Rai had been in the water at Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz, California, on July 25, 2026, when he lost his footing in the waves. Williams told California Parks in an interview after the rescue that he had seen Rai fall and ran to him, but was unable to recover the child alone due to strong waves. 

Williams said:

After the first wave, I was unable to pull him out because he was limp and the waves were pushing so hard. There were two to three more waves before lifeguard Aaron Bohnen entered the water to help me. Bystanders jumped in to try to help, and I yelled at them all to get back to shore.

Footage from the rescue showed Bohnen helping Williams bring Rai back to shore.

Rai later told The Associated Press he did not remember the rescue because he lost consciousness. Rai's father, Sumit Rai, said his son had been "two seconds" away from death and that another wave could have swept him further out to sea. 

Trump's son, Eric Trump, shared the viral video of Williams and Bohnen rescuing Rai on X on July 27 and wrote (archived), "Give this 16-year-old lifeguard the highest civilian honor. This is truly the best of America! Well done!"

Williams told media at the White House on Aug. 17, "In those dangerous moments that we have, we always try to fall back on our training. We are trained so well by many to handle that situation as best we can."

For further reading, Snopes previously investigated whether Trump said "grass is like human beings" or that part of the late Senator Lindsey Graham's body "literally blew up."

By Laerke Christensen

Laerke Christensen is a journalist based in London, England, with expertise in OSINT reporting.