Is the viral image of Trump kissing his political aide real?
Unverified image fuels “unpresidential” accusations.
President Donald Trump and Natalie Harp. Image by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
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- A viral image appears to show Donald Trump and Natalie Harp embracing on a golf course.
- No credible reports have verified the image, and signs suggest it may be AI-generated.
- Users pointed to the woman’s gloved hand, which appears to show a sixth finger.
- Harp traveled with Trump to Ireland and has become a regular presence in his inner circle.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
An image of President Donald Trump and his political aide has gone viral across social media, with netizens believing this is evidence of Trump’s infidelity. But fact checkers believe the image is all AI.
A man resembling US President Donald Trump and a blonde woman believed to be White House appointment secretary Natalie Harp are seen embracing and leaning in for a kiss on a golf course.
The image, which appears to have been taken on a low-resolution camera or shot from very far away, has since gone viral and been dubbed by social media users as clear-cut evidence of their affair.
While much of what we see online is generated by AI, users are convinced the image is legitimate, with many saying Trump was “caught in the act.”
“A photo circulating online appears to show Donald Trump and Natalie Harp kissing on a golf course,” said one user.
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However, some people dismissed the image as AI-generated, particularly given the recurring telltale signs of digital manipulation.
One of the signs users picked up on was the woman’s gloved hand, which appears to have grown a 6th finger.
But others claimed the image circulating on social media was merely “enhanced” using AI, which is why it was flagged by detectors.
The fact-checking website Snopes conducted an investigation that revealed a trail of clues linking the scandalous image to AI generation tools.
Using a reverse image search, Snopes found that the image had first appeared in the thumbnail of a YouTube video by a political commentator who claims he did not invent it.
Further inspection returned no credible results, and the question of where the image came from still remains unanswered.
However, questions about whether it's real or fake are largely resolved, as Snopes found a watermark in the enhanced version that links back to OpenAI’s tools.
There have yet to be any credible reports supporting the image’s authenticity, but what makes it arguably convincing is the surrounding context.
Harp traveled with Trump to Ireland despite growing scrutiny of her relationship with the president.
She accompanied Trump on the 2-day trip, where he watched the finals of the Irish Open and handed over the winner’s trophy at the Trump International Golf Resort in Doonbeg.
The political aide has also become a core part of Trump’s inner circle and has frequently been seen with Trump at events, according to NDTV.
