Golf has long been one of Donald Trump‘s favorite pastimes, and this particular weekend in New Jersey was no exception.

The president has spent years carefully crafting the image he wants the public to see. Whether he’s on a golf course, at a campaign rally, or inside the White House, cameras are rarely far away.

But one seemingly ordinary photo from Trump National Golf Club Bedminster quickly slipped beyond his control.

Donald Trump swapped an original golf course photo for a stylized illustration that changed everything from his face and physique to his shirt. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The former reality star shared a photo of himself behind the wheel of a golf cart alongside legendary golfer Gary Player.

Trump was dressed in a white polo shirt and his familiar “USA” cap — that was before the original photograph surfaced.

‘Look How His Torso Is’: Trump’s Golf Club Flex Backfires as All Eyes Drift from Him to Something Even More Disturbing No One Expected to See

A Threads user, who noticed something off with the image, tracked down the original image on the Getty Images website. A side-by-side shows the stark difference between it and the version Trump shared on Truth Social.

“T posted the obviously edited first picture. I found the original,” one social media user wrote.

And there were quite a few differences.

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Trump’s face appears altered in the version he posted, with his eyes looking less swollen and his overall appearance smoother. His hair also appears shorter and neater in the back.

Look farther down, and eagle-eyed viewers noticed more changes. The wrinkles around the president’s elbow appear to have been softened. The logo on his white polo is also different, and Trump’s stomach looks noticeably smaller than it does in the Getty image.

The apparent touch-up did not go unnoticed for long. One observer noticed, “They took some fat off Trump’s back.”

Social media users began raising questions such as, “How did the AI make the other guy look older!!! That’s shady.” and “Did…did they make his hand bigger, too?”

Another asked, “How bad does he look right now if he’s using AI to show us his daily activities?”

Others suggested the image was merely the latest example of Trump’s preoccupation with projecting youth and physical strength.

“Trump only wishes he looked like that. Instead of a fat, bloated carcass,” someone else shared.

The scrutiny comes as Trump’s actual height, weight and physical condition have repeatedly become subjects of online debate. He says one thing, but the world sees something else.

On May 29 the White House released the results of Trump’s May 26 physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the fourth such exam of his second term. The report declared the president healthy at a height and weight of 6 feet 3 and 238 pounds.

If those measurements don’t match Trump’s appearance, a year earlier the contrast was more stark.

An April 2025 physical performed by White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella at Walter Reed listed Trump at 6 feet 3 and 224 pounds.

Those numbers immediately had skeptics doing their own comparisons.

Images circulated showing Trump alongside Pittsburgh Steelers star wide receiver DK Metcalf, who is listed at 6 feet 4 and 229 pounds despite having the muscular build of a professional athlete.

Trump similarly has been compared against with former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, and Buffalo Bills player Keon Coleman. Still, the numbers suggest Trump wants people to believe he’s in better shape than those men, or at least comparable.

In Obama’s case, Trump has admitted he isn’t in the same league as the former Chicago community organizer, noting how easily the younger man bops around.

Questions about Trump’s measurements stretch back years. Medical results released during his first presidency listed him at 75 inches tall and 239 pounds. In June 2020, then-White House physician Dr. Sean Conley reported Trump weighed 244 pounds.

Long before that, Trump’s former physician Dr. Harold Bornstein offered a famously glowing assessment ahead of the 2016 election. “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” Bornstein said in 2015.

More than a decade later, Trump’s health continues to draw attention. The 80-year-old has appeared publicly with bruising on his hands and swelling around his ankles, while several episodes of appearing to doze during meetings have fueled speculation about his stamina.

Still, the White House maintains the president is in “excellent health.” Following his May 26 visit to Walter Reed, Barbabella again declared Trump “remains in excellent health.”

That history made the Bedminster photo an easy target for critics, who simply shook their heads, wondering who he thought he was fooling.

This isn’t new — using AI to appear more powerful has become increasingly common for his administration.

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Trump has spent years accusing news organizations and opponents of manipulating reality and spreading “fake news.” This time, though, it seems they are the ones trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes.

Critics don’t need competing medical reports or weight estimates. They had the original.

‘How Bad Does He Look?’: Trump’s Polished Golf Photo Starts Raising Questions After Someone Finds the Unedited Original