KEY POINTS

  • Donald Trump and wife Melania posed in matching tuxedos for their final White House Christmas portrait earlier this month
  • Some Twitter users claimed the first couple's picture may have been photoshopped 
  • They noted similarities between the Christmas portrait and a photo of the couple from their state visit to the U.K. last year

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump recently released their final White House Christmas portrait, but some social media users are speculating that the image may have been photoshopped.

The Christmas portrait was shared by Melania's official Twitter account Friday and featured the first couple posing in matching tuxedos on the Grand Staircase of the White House. According to the tweet, the image was taken on Dec. 10 by photographer Andrea Hanks, but some netizens think Trump and Melania may not actually have posed for the portrait this month.

One Twitter user claimed that the image came from a photo of Trump and Melania from their state visit to the U.K. last year. Taken at a dinner hosted for Prince Charles and wife Camilla Parker-Bowles, the older picture shows the president wearing a similar black tuxedo and sporting the same pose, In Style magazine noted.

Another user had the same theory, tweeting, "What a lovely photo (shop). Was Donald lifted out of a photo from this same meeting?"

"I’ve seen some pretty amateur photoshop jobs in my life, but this one takes it to a new level! No way this is not shopped!" a third user wrote.

"We all know that Trump is 'not all there,' but in this case, he's not there at all. Trump loves Christmas so much he has to be photoshopped into his own Christmas card," another added.

"Weirdest cut and paste job ever seen. They both look two-dimensional cut-outs/anime, superimposed onto a screen. DT’s face is from a prior photo. Bizarre until the very end," another wrote.

Some netizens, however, were not convinced that the photo from the first couple's 2019 U.K. visit was the original source of their new Christmas portrait, pointing out the differences between the two pictures.

"Highlights in hair different, hair shape different, finger positions different, chin more exposed in older image. This is just how he poses, so it looks identical. Not a Trump fan, but let's not make something out of nothing," one commented.

"As far as I can see they are similar but not the same. Hair different, hands different, looking ahead... and looking slightly down," another wrote.

"I can't stand them, but I don't think it's the same photo," a third user wrote.

Another Twitter user who claims to be a photoshop expert noted that Trump's pose may be the reason why people think the image was altered in some way.

"Sorry to break it to you but as a Ps expert that has done tons of compositing this does not appear to me to be the same photo. Subtle but significant differences between the two. [Trump] does have a pose that he strikes for 'official' photographs. That appears to be the case here," @TremendousGee explained.

Meanwhile, many netizens were pleased to see Trump and Melania's Christmas photo, with a number of users praising the FLOTUS' tailored tux and black stilettos.

"Stunning. What a gorgeous pair and wow," a fan of the first couple wrote. "In the lighter side. I want that ladies tux. Let’s have a cheer for our First Lady Melania the beauty and class and quiet and reserved. All the things and qualities of a lady."

US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump (pictured December 5, 2020 at a rally in Valdosta, Georgia) both contracted the coronavirus weeks before the November 3, 2020 presidential election
US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump (pictured December 5, 2020 at a rally in Valdosta, Georgia) both contracted the coronavirus weeks before the November 3, 2020 presidential election AFP / Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS