A photo President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social to show off White House renovations appears to have been altered with artificial intelligence. Google’s SynthID detector flags the image as “made or edited with OpenAI’s tools,” and The Verge confirmed that result after uploading the picture to the tool.
The image is one of several Trump shared to highlight restoration work. It compares an older White House column with a freshly restored one. Users on Reddit noticed problems with the picture of the restored column. The steps on either side of the structure don’t line up in number, and the count doesn’t match the steps in the “before” photo. The two images also look almost identical in angle and detail. The reflection in the windows is nearly the same in both, and the protective cardboard at the base of the column sits in the same spot. Commenters also said the “newly painted” column looks unnaturally smooth.
SynthID scans images, videos and audio for an invisible watermark that indicates content was created or edited with AI. The Verge’s check found that watermark on the column photo. The same check did not find it on other pictures Trump posted, including ones showing the White House facade and the heliport.
The column may still have received a real coat of paint. Photos from June show people painting the front of the White House, so the work itself is documented. The question is whether the image Trump posted shows that work or a version changed by software. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the photo.
Trump has used AI imagery before. He often posts AI-generated caricatures of himself. The White House account has also shared AI memes, some of them racist, and at least one photo that was deceptively edited to make a protester appear distraught. Those earlier posts have drawn criticism, and the column photo adds another example to the list of altered images coming from official channels.
The episode shows how quickly online users can spot inconsistencies in a photo, and how detection tools can reveal edits that are not visible to the naked eye. Users found the discrepancies by comparing the two images side by side, and the watermark check provided a second layer of evidence that the image had been manipulated.
Cet article a été rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA.
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