Trump posts AI-edited photo to brag about White House restoration work
President Donald Trump posted a series of photos on Truth Social showing off renovations to the White House - but one of them appears to be modified with AI. The picture, which compares an old White House column to a "restored" one, has several discrepancies and was flagged by Google's AI detector as "made or edited with OpenAI." As pointed out by users on Reddit, the picture of the "restored" column has an uneven…
Key points
- President Donald Trump posted photos on Truth Social showing White House renovations, and one image appears to have been modified with AI.
- Google's SynthID detector flagged the photo as made or edited with OpenAI's tools, and users on Reddit noted mismatched steps and near-identical before-and-after details.
- The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the AI watermark was not detected on Trump's other posted photos.
President Donald Trump posted a series of photos on Truth Social showing renovations to the White House, but one image appears to have been modified with AI. The picture compares an old White House column with a "restored" one and was flagged by Google's AI detector as made or edited with OpenAI.
Users on Reddit noted that the "restored" column has an uneven number of steps on each side, and the step count does not match the "before" photo. The before and after images also appear nearly identical in angle and detail, with similar window reflections and protective cardboard in the same spot, while the newly painted column looks unnaturally smooth.
What the detector found
The Verge confirmed that the photo posted to Truth Social is flagged as AI-generated when uploaded to Google's SynthID Detector, which scans images, videos and audio for an invisible watermark indicating AI creation or editing. The detector identified the image as made or edited with OpenAI's tools. The SynthID watermark was not detected on other pictures Trump posted, which show the White House facade and heliport.
made or edited with OpenAI
— Google's SynthID detector
Context and response
Real pictures show people painting the front of the White House in June, so the column may have received a fresh coat of paint. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump frequently posts AI-generated caricatures of himself, and the White House has posted racist AI memes and at least one photo deceptively edited to make a protester appear distraught.
