Image of young Donald Trump on sofa with Jeffrey Epstein is fake

30 January 2025
What was claimed

An image shows a younger President Donald Trump with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, at what appears to be a party with young women.

Our verdict

This picture isn’t real. There are a number of inconsistencies that show it was likely created using Artificial Intelligence, including unnaturally long arms and legs, and Jeffrey Epstein having no legs at all.

An image of a younger President Donald Trump with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein isn’t real—and was likely created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Users on social media, including on X (formerly Twitter), Threads and Instagram, have been sharing the picture which appears to show President Trump sitting on a sofa alongside Epstein and several young women.

Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

At first glance the image seems convincing. However, there are several clues that it isn’t genuine, and was most likely created using AI.

Epstein appears to have no legs in the image, as well as a strange flesh-like area on his left shoulder where the sleeve should be. And the arms of the woman on the left, and the legs on the woman on the right are also unnaturally elongated.

Although this particular image is fake, there are genuine images and video footage of the two men together.  

The fake image has gone viral in the past and has been fact checked several times before.  

Full Fact has also previously debunked other AI-created images that depict President Trump, including another of him with Epstein

We have also checked AI-generated images, videos and likely-deepfake audio of other politicians, including of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.

Our guide to spotting AI-generated images can help you identify similar posts as fake before you share.

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