Fact Check: Make AI-merica Great Again? This Trump pic is fake

A photo now making the rounds on social media shows former US President Donald Trump sitting with a group of young black men. Per those sharing the photo, Trump stopped his motorcade to take pictures with the young men who waved at him. An archived version of the viral post can be seen here.

India Today found that the viral photo is not real but AI-generated.

Our Probe

We performed a keyword search and a reverse image search. Neither yielded any results except for the social media accounts that posted it alongside the aforementioned claim.

Upon closer examination, we identified several unusual flaws in the viral picture. Firstly, the man sitting on the right side of Trump has two thumbs, with one having a long nail — a common deformity in AI-generated images.

Secondly, Trump has three fingers in each of his hands. Thirdly, the man on Trump's left is wearing a gumboot on one leg but not on the other. Lastly, the skin and hair of the subjects, including Trump, appear over-smooth.

These are all telltale signs that the image is AI-generated.

Further, we also noticed a watermark of @Trump_history45 on the viral photo. We searched for the account on X and found the viral image uploaded there.

We observed that this shared many AI-generated images of Trump in unusual places and attires.

Thus, it’s clear that an AI-generated image of Trump is being shared with misleading claims.