Image of Melania Trump pole dancing for Epstein isn't real. Here's the proof

In late February 2026, internet users circulated an image they claimed showed U.S. first lady Melania Trump pole dancing for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The image spread after the U.S. Department of Justice released more than 3 million files related to Epstein in late January. 

The alleged photograph spread widely on Facebook, with some users claiming that it was from a section of the Epstein files that was supposed to be redacted. 

(Facebook user "David Vandygriff")

The earliest example of the image we found appeared on Feb. 9 on the Instagram page of the British artist Alison Jackson, who according to her website creates "convincingly realistic photographs, films and sculpture depicting celebrities doing things in private." The Instagram post with the picture had a caption reading, "Apparently, Melania was introduced to Donald Trump by Epstein…" as well as a disclaimer stating, "Fictional image. No factual claims implied." As a result, we've rated the image fake.

We messaged Jackson's Instagram page to confirm she created the image in question and will update this story if we learn more. 

Snopes has previously debunked other images featuring famous people created by the same artist. For a previous story about a fake image of U.S. President Donald Trump and Epstein getting their feet washed by a girl, a spokesperson for Jackson told us: "The image was created by Alison Jackson, she uses lookalikes of the public figures and makes them look realistic, she also uses Ai – it's a bit of both."

We searched for the image in the Epstein files made available by the DOJ and found no such photograph in the files. A reverse image search also found no credible sources sharing the purported photograph. If this image were actually in the files, major media outlets would have widely covered it. 

We also ran the image through Google Gemini's SynthID check, a tool that scans for embedded watermarks input through AI software. That scan found no SynthID watermark and concluded that it was not created using Google's AI, but noted "SynthID only detects Google's specific watermark, so it cannot determine if the image was created or altered using other AI tools or software like Photoshop." 

We also analyzed the image using other AI detection tools. Hive Moderation and Zero-GPT determined it was highly likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content. Sight Engine determined it was unlikely to be AI-generated. (Research shows AI-detection software is imperfect and readers should consider the tools' results with skepticism.)

The image has several red flags that indicate it was either AI-generated or heavily edited. First, the shadow behind the woman's figure is inconsistent and does not cast the same dark shade onto Epstein seated behind her while appearing to be lit in the same way. Second, the woman's fingers appear cut off around the pole.  Third, it is unclear where the shadow on the bed between the pole and the woman's legs is coming from.

Snopes has previously investigated an image claiming to show Melania Trump, Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell and a few young women or teenage girls. Snopes has also analyzed the unsubstantiated claim that Melania Trump was an escort before meeting her now-husband President Donald Trump at a party thrown by Maxwell.