Trump posts AI-edited photo to brag about White House restoration work

President Donald Trump shared a photo on Truth Social showcasing the newly painted White House column, but one picture seemed to be altered using artificial intelligence. The image contrasted an aged column with a "restored" version, yet it contained several inconsistencies, prompting Google's AI detector to flag it as "generated or edited with OpenAI."

Observant users on Reddit noted that the "restored" column displayed an unequal number of steps on either side, which did not align with those in the original photo. The before and after pictures also appeared almost identical in perspective and detail, with the reflection in the windows being almost identical and the protective cardboard at the base of the column occupying the same position.

Moreover, the "refreshed" column possessed an unrealistically smooth appearance. The Verge confirmed that the Truth Social post was flagged as AI-generated when uploaded to Google's SynthID Detector, which scans images, videos, and audio for an invisible watermark suggesting it was "created or edited" with AI. The real photographs reveal workers painting the White House's front in June, suggesting the column might indeed have been given a fresh coat of paint.

However, the White House had not yet responded to a request for clarification. The SynthID watermark was not detected on other images Trump posted, which featured the White House's exterior and heliport. Trump has previously utilized AI tools, often sharing AI-generated caricatures of himself, while the White House has been known to distribute racist AI memes and at least one image that was deceptively altered to portray a protester as distressed.