In June 2026, an image circulated online purportedly showing an old photo of U.S. President Donald Trump alongside his daughter Ivanka Trump, who appears to be seen holding hands with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The relationship between Trump and Epstein, who have been photographed together on multiple occasions, reportedly fizzled out in the years leading up to the deceased financier's conviction.
The image spread across multiple platforms, including Threads and Facebook (archived, archived), with many commenters appearing to believe it was authentic.
(Instagram Threads user @sara.a12334456.)
Other social media users, however, correctly pointed out that the image was generated using artificial intelligence software. In short, it is fake and does not authentically depict Epstein with Donald and Ivanka Trump. The image contains signs of AI-generation, such as Ivanka's unnaturally bent left hand.
The verification site of OpenAI — the artificial intelligence company that created ChatGPT — concluded the image was generated using the company's AI software. OpenAI's verification tool detected SynthID, an invisible watermark for AI images that Google developed and OpenAI also uses.
(openai.com)
A Facebook user called Christer Lundquist posted the earliest iteration (archived) of the image Snopes found online. Lundquist's profile shows he has repeatedly posted AI-generated content. It was not possible to contact him to confirm whether he created the image. It is possible another account posted it first.
Though the image is fake, it is based on an authentic 1991 photo of Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump, which Ivanka, herself, posted on Facebook in June 2025. Epstein is not visible in the original picture, nor is Trump holding a green popsicle, as shown in the AI-generated image.
There are multiple publicly available photos of the Trumps at the 1991 event — which took place the month before Ivanka's 10th birthday — showing them in the same clothes they were wearing in the picture Ivanka shared to Facebook (which is also available on Getty Images).
(Image courtesy of Ron Galella, accessed via Getty Images.)
In sum, the image that circulated online in June 2026 purportedly depicting the Trumps with Epstein is fake. Its creator used an OpenAI tool to generate the fake photo, which was based on an authentic 1991 picture of Donald and Ivanka Trump.
Snopes has analyzed numerous AI-generated media of Donald Trump and Epstein, including footage seemingly showing the pair at a party with young girls and an image purportedly showing them pictured with an underage girl.