WASHINGTON — C-SPAN has addressed whether President Donald Trump called into the show last week under the pseudonym “John Barron.” 

The rumors began to swirl last week following the Supreme Court’s decision against the Republican president’s tariff policy. C-SPAN heard from a caller named John Barron from Virginia, whom many online compared to Trump or an impersonator. Some even pointed to a 2016 Washington Post article that claimed Trump had used the John Barron persona previously throughout his career.

“This is the worst decision you’ll ever have in your life, practically,” the caller told C-SPAN host Greta Brawner. “This is a terrible decision. And you have Hakeem Jeffries, he’s a dope, and you have Chuck Schumer, who can’t cook a cheeseburger. Of course, these people are happy, of course these people are happy. But true Americans will not be happy.”

On Sunday, C-SPAN put the rumors and theories to rest.

“Because so many of you are talking about Friday’s C-SPAN caller who identified himself as ‘John Barron,’ we want to put this to rest: it was not the president. The call came from a central Virginia phone number and came while the president was in a widely covered, in-person White-House meeting with the governors,” the network said on X. “Tune into C-SPAN for the actual president at the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.”

Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address at 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

The address is rooted in a simple requirement in the U.S. Constitution that directs the president to “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” But in modern times, it’s a televised extravaganza where every detail is carefully scrutinized.