In February and March 2025, posts claimed a photograph showed an unusual discoloration on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump's right hand. An image on Reddit (archived) showed a pair of hands folded together, with the caption "Another day, another photo of Trump's hands." The back of the right hand showed an unusual grey-yellow tinge, almost like a bruise.
(Reddit user u/Chaming_Usual6227)
The above photograph is authentic and is available on Getty Images. It was taken in February 2025 at a White House event with French President Emmanuel Macron. As such, we rate this claim as true.
We do not, however, know for certain what caused the discoloration, though the White House acknowledged it and said it was a bruise.
The original photograph is on Getty Images with the caption: "Makeup covers a bruise on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump's hand as he hosts French President Emmanuel Macron for meetings at the White House on February 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. Macron is meeting with Trump in Washington on the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine."
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The apparent bruise continued to be visible weeks later. It could be seen in these photos (both close up and taken at a distance) from March 12, 2025, showing Trump posing with a bowl of clover alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
(Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
We looked at other photographs of Trump's hand from that event and the discoloration is visible as he holds his hand to his ear:
(Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Many people online speculated about the reasons behind the bruise, some attributing it to aging, others noting how the bruise was taking a long time to go away, given it had been spotted in late February and was still visible in mid-March.
We cannot independently determine what is going on with Trump's hand. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who was responding to questions about the president's hand in February 2025: "President Trump is a man of the people and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other President in history."
"President Trump has bruises on his hand because he's constantly working and shaking hands all day every day," she added.
Even in 2024, Trump was photographed with bruises on his hands. In an interview with Time magazine for its "Person of the Year" Trump said, "It's from shaking hands with thousands of people."
In 2024, Snopes covered the strange red "sores" that appeared on Trump's hands and mysteriously disappeared.