A photo shared to X on Nov. 10, 2024, showed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden sitting beside each other smiling. It was posted after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Biden would meet Trump in the Oval Office. The pair met for nearly two hours on Nov. 13, days after the image was shared.
President Biden will be meeting President-Elect Trump in the Oval Office this Wednesday.
What do you think they'll talk about? ? pic.twitter.com/ALQc9obLVS— David Leavitt ???♂️? (@David_Leavitt) November 9, 2024
A reverse image search revealed that the photo had been shared at least three times on social media as of this publication.
Several characteristics in the photograph indicated it was fake and was likely created using artificial intelligence.
For one, a closer look at Biden's left hand reveals that part of his thumb is cut off and blends unnaturally into the tip of his tie, while his ring and pink fingers are irregularly formed. As Snopes previously reported, misshapen hands can be a "dead giveaway that an image is fake."
(X/@David_Leavitt)
Hanging on the wall behind Biden is a decorative piece of insignia that resembles the American flag or similar regalia hung at the White House. However, in the photo shared on social media, it, too, is misshapen.
(X/@David_Leavitt)
Trump is also shown wearing a wedding band on his left ring finger, which he is known not to do (as exemplified by several photos shared on his campaign website).
Finally, the AI-detection tool Hive Moderation determined that the photo was 99.9% "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content." This conclusion was also supported by Illuminarty, which found a probability of 56% that the photo was created using AI.
(Hive Moderation/Illuminarty)
A number of authentic photos of Biden and Trump in the White House were available from photo services such as Getty Images following the meeting, showing the men wearing different clothes than in the picture previously shared online:
(Getty Images)