Image of European leaders waiting in White House corridor isn’t real

A picture circulating widely online that appears to show European politicians and heads of state waiting on chairs in a White House corridor isn’t genuine—and there are a number of clues that it was created using AI.

It shows what looks like French President Emmanuel Macron, next to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and other people waiting on a row of chairs with clasped hands.

It comes after talks were held in the White House on Monday about security guarantees for Ukraine, with Mr Macron, Ms von der Leyen and Ms Meloni among those involved, as well as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, President of Finland Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

But while at first glance the image, which has been shared on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), may appear convincing, on closer inspection there are a number of clues that it is an AI creation.

We often say that apparently inauthentic images circulating online “appear to be” or are “likely” AI-generated, because it’s often hard to say for certain how an image was created. But in this case there is plenty of visual evidence to suggest that the image was created by AI, while other fact checkers have also determined that it is AI-generated, as has Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.

Clues that the image is AI

Firstly, there appears to be a set of legs without a body between President Macron and Ms von der Leyen, attached to a pair of high heeled boots.

Additionally, the pattern of the floor has glitched into the heel of a shoe of a woman dressed in red who appears to resemble Prime Minister Meloni, and she seems to have only one leg.

Many of the versions of the image circulating are poor quality, making it difficult to make out in detail the faces of people in the picture.

But a higher quality example shared on X has a tell-tale unnatural sheen that is indicative of AI-generated images.

When this version is enlarged, Ms Meloni also appears to have an unnaturally long thumb, while the hand and arm of the third woman is also distorted.

Genuine photographs of the leaders at the White House on Monday also show some of the leaders wearing different outfits than can be seen in the image being shared on social media. In particular, Ms von der Leyen and Ms Meloni are pictured in the viral image in dresses or skirts, when they were actually wearing trousers at the meeting.

We have previously fact checked a number of AI images and deepfake videos supposedly showing global political figures, including European leaders, President Trump and Mr Starmer.

Before sharing content like this that you see online, first consider whether it comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source. Our toolkit and guides to spotting AI images can help you do this.