President Donald Trump sparked outrage on social media on Sunday after he was filmed dumping a box of fish food into a koi pond in Japan.

But footage of the fish feeding photo-op show that Trump followed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's lead.



Social media erupted on Sunday after Japanese and American reporters captured President Donald Trump pouring a box of fish food into a koi pond at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on the second day of his five-country tour of Asia.

After some reporters shared video of Trump dumping the contents of a small wooden box into the pond, the president's critics on social media interpreted the act as a violation of etiquette. But footage of Trump feeding the fish with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shows that Trump, in fact, followed Abe's lead, first sprinkling spoonfuls of the food into the pond before Abe emptied the contents of his box, prompting Trump to do the same.

Some Twitter users reacted by accusing Trump of callously overfeeding the koi, a colorful domesticated carp that are often kept in ponds in Japanese gardens.

Conservatives on social media reacted by accusing the press of promoting "fake news," and Fox News media reporter Brian Flood wrote a story about how "the mainstream media decided to twist the narrative to make Trump appear like a buffoon."

Trump began his 12-day tour on Saturday in Japan, where he publicly criticized the trade imbalance between the US and Japan, applauded Japan's purchase of military equipment from the US, and suggested that the country should have shot down missiles that North Korea recently launched over Japan.

Trump also met with families of individuals abducted by North Korea and suggested in a speech that if the rogue regime returned those kidnapped, the US would change its stance towards North Korea.

Watch video of the koi pond moment below: