Don’t be fooled by doctored photo of Trump and daughter Ivanka

Claim:

A photograph circulating online for months showed U.S. President Donald Trump sticking his tongue out while holding his daughter Ivanka Trump, who was sat next to him.

Rating:

Context

This image was based on a real photograph. However, it had been digitally altered to depict Donald Trump with his tongue sticking out.

For months, an image has circulated online purportedly showing a younger U.S. President Donald Trump facing the camera with his tongue sticking out in the back of a vehicle while holding his daughter Ivanka Trump, who was sat next to him.

One Threads user (archived) captioned it: “NASTY! RELEASE THE UNREDACTED EPSTEIN FILES AND VIDEOS.” The picture spread amid renewed attention on the so-called “Epstein files,” as Trump ordered the release of Justice Department case files related to the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in November 2025.

(Threads user @estelagarcia1953)

The image also appeared in Facebook groups and on X. Likewise, Snopes readers searched our website and emailed us for information on the image’s authenticity.

In short, the picture was a manipulated version of an authentic photograph from the mid-1990s, when Ivanka was 13 years old. Trump’s facial expression had been digitally altered; therefore, we have rated the image as fake.

How this fake image was created

The fake image was based on an authentic photograph available via Getty Images. Photographer Yann Gamblin captured the original, titled “Close-Up Of Donald Trump,” for French news and pop culture magazine Paris Match.

Getty’s caption (translated from French) read in part: “United States, March 15, 1990, in his limousine, American real estate billionaire Donald Trump with his daughter, Ivanka Trump (13 years old), whom he had with his previous wife, Ivana.”

(gettyimages.com)

The caption listed the date as 1990 but the image was uploaded to Getty in 1995. Since Ivanka Trump was born in 1981 and was identified as 13 in the caption, it is likely the photograph was actually taken in 1995, not 1990 (other photos from 1991 showed her looking much younger than in this picture, further suggesting it was captured in 1995).

In the version spreading online in late 2025, Trump’s mouth had been digitally altered to show him looking toward the camera with his tongue hanging out. There was no Getty image showing Trump pulling that face. 

Other photographs from the same session, also available via Getty, showed Trump and Ivanka, wearing the same outfits on the same date, in a limousine and aboard a Boeing 727 with his then wife Marla Maples. 

(gettyimages.com)

Social media posts in 2025 paired the digitally altered image with captions suggesting the photo came from Epstein-related materials or that it somehow documented conduct connected to Epstein’s crimes. There was no evidence to support such claims. The only traceable origin for the image is the family photo session described above. Snopes was not able to find an archived version of the Paris Match volume featuring the photo session.

In 2020, we debunked a fake photograph that supposedly showed Trump kissing Epstein. That image was also based on a photograph from the same session, but replaced Ivanka’s face with Epstein’s.

It is true, however, that Trump and Epstein knew one another and were photographed together at various events before the latter’s 2019 arrest on charges of sex with minors, as we’ve reported in several articles. We’ve also reported on multiple authentic photographs of Trump and his daughter.

Sources

“Close-Up Of Donald Trump. Etats-Unis, 15 Mars 1990, Dans Sa…” Getty Images, 3 Mar. 2013, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/close-up-of-donald-trump-etats-unis-15-mars-1990-dans-sa-news-photo/163156833.

“Close-Up Of Donald Trump. Etats-Unis, 15 Mars 1990, Dans Sa…” Getty Images, 3 Mar. 2013, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/close-up-of-donald-trump-etats-unis-15-mars-1990-dans-sa-news-photo/163156941.

“Close-Up Of Donald Trump. Etats-Unis, 15 Mars 1990, Le Milliardaire…” Getty Images, 3 Mar. 2013, https://www.gettyimages.co.nz/detail/news-photo/close-up-of-donald-trump-etats-unis-15-mars-1990-le-news-photo/163157061.

“Close-Up Of Donald Trump. Etats-Unis, 15 Mars 1990, Le Milliardaire…” Getty Images, 3 Mar. 2013, https://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/close-up-of-donald-trump-etats-unis-15-mars-1990-le-news-photo/163157063.

Dapcevich, Madison. “Photos of Trump Alongside Diddy, Epstein Are Real.” Snopes, 6 Dec. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/photos-trump-combs-epstein/.

‘Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump’. Getty Images, 14 Sept. 2007, https://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/donald-trump-and-ivanka-trump-news-photo/76752671.

‘Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump Attend Lafayette Galeries Grand Opening…’ Getty Images, 11 Mar. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/donald-trump-and-ivanka-trump-attend-lafayette-galeries-news-photo/514763276.

Evon, Dan. “Is This Photo of Trump Kissing Epstein Real?” Snopes, 22 July 2020, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-kissing-epstein-photo/.

Jeffrey Epstein Articles | Snopes.Com. https://www.snopes.com/tag/jeffrey-epstein/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2025.

PerryCook, Taija. “Is This Photo of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Real?” Snopes, 21 Dec. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/real-photo-trump-epstein/.

Wrona, Aleksandra. “Old Photos of Trump with Ivanka Are Spreading Widely Online.” Snopes, 30 July 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-ivanka-photos/.

———. “Photo of Trump and Daughter Ivanka Posing on Bed Together Is Real.” Snopes, 24 July 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/donald-ivanka-trump-bed-photo/.