AI image falsely claimed to show European leaders outside Oval Office
- Published on August 19, 2025 at 16:56
- 4 min read
- By Marisha GOLDHAMER, AFP USA
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"Trump has the Presidents of a Germany, France, the UK, Finland, the leader of NATO and the leader of the European Union waiting outside the Oval Office in chairs like they're at the dentist office," claims an August 18, 2025 post on X from Joey Mannarino, a conservative political commentator AFP previously fact-checked for spreading misinformation, including about Ukraine.
"This is utter humiliation of these corrupt scumbags. Absolutely beautiful," the post adds.
The image spread quickly across platforms in English, Greek, Serbian, Slovak, Polish, German, French and Portuguese.
It gained traction as European leaders joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House for talks with Donald Trump following the US president's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Trump said he plans to hold a three-way meeting with the Ukrainian leader and Russian president.
Trump did meet with Zelensky in the Oval Office prior to discussions in the East Room that included the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO, but there is no indication the image of individuals waiting in a hallway was taken at the White House.
A keyword search on X revealed a higher resolution version of the image was posted by other accounts, making it easier to spot signs it is inauthentic (archived here). Despite rapid advances in artificial intelligence, visual errors occur and careful examination of an image is a key tool for determining authenticity.
Next to the man who resembles French President Emmanuel Macron there is a third leg wearing black pants and a black high heel. There are also additional shoes next to the woman in red's feet.
The pattern of the carpet is inconsistent with a blue rectangle appearing in only one place and some segments appearing yellow where others do not.
In addition to the absence of the leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom and Finland -- all men who wore glasses during the meeting with Trump -- the three women in the image are also not leaders of European nations.
The person in the turquoise suit has a short haircut similar to Ursula von der Leyen, but AFP photos and official images released by the Trump administration (archived here and here) show the European Commission president wore an orange jacket and top with black pants to the meeting. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also wore a gray pant suit.
The Hive Moderation AI detection tool found that the image is highly likely to contain AI-generated content with a 99 percent confidence level.
The image was also debunked by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (archived here).
More of AFP's reporting on misinformation surrounding the war between Russia and Ukraine is available here.
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