(AFP) – Donald Trump shared an image Thursday of Xi Jinping’s red-carpet arrival to Washington that appears to have been altered using artificial intelligence, with an unflattering expression captured in live footage of the moment edited out. The Truth Social post purports to show the US president saluting beside his Chinese counterpart, with Xi’s Air China aircraft forming the backdrop and a military jet soaring overhead.
But side-by-side comparisons laid bare a number of discrepancies from authentic photographs captured by AFP and other news agencies — as well as the White House’s own livestreamed footage of the greeting Wednesday — that digital forensics experts said point to the potential use of AI. Multiple AI-detection tools indicated the image was likely generated with the technology. Noticeably absent in the version Trump posted is his reaction to the loud flyover — a pained wince that drew mockery from critics on social media and late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the visual. Trump is known to litter his Truth Social feed with AI-generated images and memes, but the flyover post comes amid his unprecedented efforts — thwarted in court — to bar journalists from CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House over coverage he branded as “fake news.” The top five US broadcasters had halted pool coverage of the White House — a system allowing one TV outlet to film on behalf of the lot of them for the day — in solidarity.
Apart from the missing grimace, the image Trump posted depicts him wearing a plain blue tie and singular black glove, whereas news agency photos and videos showed him in a striped tie and with both hands covered. A woman in the background over Trump’s left shoulder is also portrayed with different shoes than can be seen in authentic visuals of the moment.
Matthew Stamm, a media forensics expert at Drexel University, told AFP his analysis of the image using specialized software “identified traces left by generative AI with high confidence.” He said these statistical traces are akin to “fingerprints that a criminal leaves at a crime scene.” Walter Scheirer, another expert at the University of Notre Dame, agreed AI was likely involved. “Given the existence of multiple versions of this scene, including a set of originals available via Getty Images that are clearly different from what President Trump posted to Truth Social, I am confident that this image has been altered,” he told AFP.
The episode highlights the rapid growth of AI-generated fakes in politics, with even high-stakes diplomatic events now subject to manipulation by the very leaders participating in them. After Trump traveled to Beijing in May for a prior summit with Xi, he posted a different doctored image meant to show his predecessor Joe Biden confused with the Chinese president. “Sometimes these edits are innocuous,” Scheirer said. “In other cases, the interpretation of the photo completely changes in a manner more akin to propaganda.” – Bill MCCARTHY
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