President Donald Trump knows how to steal the spotlight even in moments meant to celebrate others.

The White House turned into Trump’s dream hangout—champions, cameras, and a built-in excuse to talk about his favorite sport.

Trump invited the group for a glossy photo op that had all the makings of a victory lap. But something lurking in the background quietly hijacked the moment and turned to something disturbing.

An infamous image of President Donald Trump in the White House has created an uproar online. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

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Trump, 79, hosted the Oklahoma State University Cowboys, the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s golf champions, in footage taken on April 21.

Golf remains one of the president’s favorite pastimes, and his excitement showed as the championship team lined up for photos.

A red carpet was rolled out, and live musicians provided the tunes. Trump paused mid-stroll and mimed a golf swing. Then he continued over to greet his guests, and the moment was quickly overtaken by his entrance.

Cameras followed as attention shifted to one chilling detail in the background, a now-infamous image hanging on the wall.

“Who the hell put this staged photo here?!” a conspiratorial Threads user wondered. Another person on X asked, “He’s got a painting of that fake assassination attempt in the lobby?”

The OSU squad stood nearby a photo from the president’s July 2024 assassination attempt. The image shows Trump bloodied but defiant, with his fist raised in the air, surrounded by Secret Service agents.

At the time, Trump was the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party. The gunman, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, fired eight rounds at a campaign rally event in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump survived, with a wounded ear. However, 50-year-old former fire chief Corey Comperatore lost his life. Despite the fatality, the nearly two-year-old shooting is back on social media. Conspiracy theorists keep questioning whether it was staged.

Those unproven claims resurfaced after the Butler shooting painting appeared prominently in the White House. The artwork, created by Florida artist Marc Lipp, quickly became part of the online debate.

Trump hung the painting last April. Just two months later, its presence felt ironic after he claimed he doesn’t like to “dwell” on it.

“I like to think about it as little as possible, I don’t like to think about if it changed me. It could have changed a lot of people. I don’t want to think about it,” he told the BBC in July 2025.

“I don’t like to dwell on it because if I did, it would be life-changing. I don’t want it to be that. It was a crazy moment. I went on to win the presidency. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it to be honest, but I won the presidency.”

The MAGA leader said it was a “disaster,” but he had to let the public know he was still alive.

“I assumed that they expected worst, and so I had to let them know I was ok, which is what I did. That’s why I tried to get up as soon as possible,” he explained.

“They had a stretcher ready to go and I said no, thank you. I actually had a big argument about that, they wanted me on a stretcher, and I said nope. Not doing that,” added Trump.

A former supporter, Marjorie Taylor, most recently pointed out some “red flags” in the narrative around Trump’s assassination attempt. She blamed him for turning the slain officer into a story about himself, because “no one loves Trump more than Trump.”

“As for Corey Comperatore, he was used in this plot, someone had to die otherwise, it would have been much easier to claim it was a HOAX,” Taylor blasted on X.

She continued, “They killed Corey, likely because he was truly a real life hero, one people would rally behind and defend passionately, as they should. Then to top it off, they used Corey to their benefit at the convention.”

But that wasn’t exactly where the chatter stopped. Not all reactions to Trump greeting the NCAA golf champions focused on speculation. Some critics also questioned how quickly he managed to outshine the athletes.

“It always has to be about him; he is such a pathetic, childish moron,” declared someone on Threads. Similarly, another post read, “The so-called President of the United States is a complete moron.” A third poster simply added, “So pathetic.”

Trump’s reputation for serving fast-food items to visiting teams has followed him since his first term as president.

He has maintained that low-cost tradition for his current administration. One social media user sarcastically posted, “Did they get to eat cold McDonald’s?”

Quick meals versus fine dining sparked a sports drama during the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Trump fueled a gender debate with how he treated U.S. hockey teams earlier this year.

Team USA won gold in both men’s and women’s hockey in February. Trump praised the men but shaded the women, triggering backlash that took over Olympic coverage.

Critics pointed to the contrast. He served the men’s team McDonald’s cheeseburgers and bottled water at the White House. Meanwhile, the women’s team ate risotto and drank wine in Italy with “The Devil Wears Prada” actor Stanley Tucci.

In the end, Trump displayed his knack for pulling attention back to himself and making others’ wins about him.

‘Complete Moron’: Trump Invited Golf Champs To the White House for a Photo Op — But That One Chilling Detail In the Background Hijacks the Moment