Social media users shared reports that the Oval Office in the White House was permanently closed, using screenshots allegedly used of Apple cards, showing that the Oval Office was marked as ‘permanently closed’. This claim is false: the Oval Office is not permanently closed as President Biden works there and this notice does not appear on Apple cards.
Examples of the postings, dated January 26 and January 27, can be seen here, here and here. Captions include: ‘As of now [downwards arrow pointing to screenshot]”; Screenshot from my phone (Apple Maps). Please call the cashier number (202) 456-1111 You will hear: “Oval Office is temporarily closed”; and “A screenshot from my Apple Maps !! That’s EXACTLY RIGHT !!! The USA is no longer for sale! ”
The caption of one article reads: “Do you remember the ten days of darkness we were told about? Today is day 6 ”(here). This is likely linked to the widespread QAnon conspiracy, based on the idea that former President Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of predators against children that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and allies of ‘deep state’ (here) . Supporters of QAnon believe that Biden is not president and that the military is in power until Trump returns to office on March 4 and exposes the alleged cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibal elite. Reuters has downplayed some of these claims here – a U.S. government defense official told Reuters in an email that neither martial law nor the Insurrection Act has been declared. The unfounded claim of the days of darkness refers to a fictitious time in which it appears that the government has closed, but that the ‘new government’ will in fact take over (here).
Reuters conducted an Apple Maps search for the Oval Office on January 27 (when some of the reports claimed that their Apple maps displayed the Oval Office as closed) and did not see the closed label, as seen in a screenshot ibb.co/FWD9p8h. Another search on January 28 also did not show the closed label (ibb.co/dD99wP1 and ibb.co/tBhmJ4n). In both searches, Reuters saw no opening hours for the Oval Office.
An Apple spokesman told Reuters in an email that the company was not aware of the closure of the office on Apple Maps.
President Biden can be seen on January 27 in an official video of the White House in the Oval Office. President Biden and his administration did not stop working on January 26 or January 27: on January 26, Biden announced that the United States plans to release another 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines (here, here) and on January 27. Acquire. he signs new executive orders to combat climate change (here). The White House Briefing Room on its website also provides more details about the work that Biden and the administration completed during this time, visible here.
Reuters unleashed another message earlier this week that made false allegations about Biden’s Oval Office, saying it was a fake movie set (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. The Oval Office did not close permanently and Apple Maps did not show it.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.