Doctoring in the White House: Trumps opt for AI images

Eric Trump – answer to the question, ‘what if Donald Trump Jr, but even thicker?’ – proudly posted a picture on Instagram this week after spending a weekend golfing with daddy at his Bedminster club in New Jersey.

He was keen to show off an image of the president spending quality time with his grandchildren – Eric ‘Luke’ Trump and Carolina Trump – and posted a snap of the three together, Donald sitting on a wooden chair and the kids to his right.

Give the image more than a second’s glance, though, and something didn’t look quite right. Donald Trump’s left ear appears even fuzzier than that of a normal 80-year-old, as does Luke’s right ear. Meanwhile, two parts of the background were blurred and, most tellingly, there was an extra disembodied foot on the ground behind Luke – all tell-tale evidence of an image created by AI.

The original image (left) and the version Trump posted on Truth Social. Photos: Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Internet sleuths were immediately all over it, speculating that, given Trump’s well-documented lack of interest in his family (he skipped Don Jr’s wedding earlier this year) Eric had been forced to turn to tech to create the wholesome snap. “Your old man doesn’t even know their names. I hope AI is the closest your little girl ever gets to that monster,” wrote one follower on Instagram.

Meanwhile, Eric wasn’t the only Trump to be sharing apparently doctored images over the weekend. Donald himself posted a picture on Truth Social of himself and golfer Gary Player in a cart at Bedminster, alongside the caption “With the great Gary Player, today, at Bedminster!”.

In the original, unedited photo, the McDonald’s-chomping Trump looks pasty, bleary-eyed and considerably less healthy than Player, who is 10 years his senior, mostly vegetarian and never eats dinner. In the version Trump posted, however, he looks around 30 years younger, slimmer and well-tanned, while Player looks exactly the same. How curious!