Donald and Melania Trump frowning at the camera on a White House balcony: real or AI?

As shared

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Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images, shared on X by @SethAbramson · Shown as an embedded post · Source

REAL

This is real.

How sure we areVery high

Based on 2 strong and 0 supporting pieces of evidence.

What we found

The photograph shows Donald and Melania Trump both frowning hard at the camera on a White House balcony. A cropped version spread on X, Reddit and Threads from 25 September 2026. Some people said it showed the couple's true nature, and others asked whether it was AI-made or edited. It is a real photograph, taken by Getty Images photographer Chip Somodevilla on 24 September 2026. The full frame also shows China's President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, as the group left the balcony after watching a military drill display during a state visit. Snopes checked it on 25 September 2026 and rated it true. It compared the Getty picture with near-identical photographs of the same moment from Reuters and the Associated Press, and with the frames taken just before and after. When several news agencies have the same moment, the picture is very unlikely to be fake.

Key facts

Original source: Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images, shared on X by @SethAbramson
First published: Not recorded
Earlier appearances: Not recorded
The claim you saw: No caption recorded
Signs of AI: None that decide it

The evidence, strongest first

Strong Decides the answer

Original sourceGetty Images, photo by Chip Somodevilla, 24 September 2026↗Published fact-checkSnopes, 25 September 2026↗

Supporting Points the same way

None.

Weak Shown, not relied on

How it looksThe skin, hair and fabric have the fine, uneven detail of a real press photo. The Washington Monument and the blurred trees behind them sit where they should for the White House balcony. The same moment was photographed from almost the same angle by Reuters and AP photographers.

Detector scores are often wrong, so they never decide a verdict here.

What we couldn’t establish

Anything about the moment it shows beyond what the sources above record. If you know more, tell us.

Bottom line

Real: the original source shows it.

See the original ↗Think we’re wrong?

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Donald and Melania Trump frowning at the camera on a White House balcony: real or AI?

This is real.

Strong Decides the answer

Supporting Points the same way

Weak Shown, not relied on

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