Trump Edits Melania Out of Weird AI Photo—but Leaves in an Aide

Donald Trump heavily edited the photo of himself with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with a couple major choices.

President Donald Trump posted an apparently AI-generated image of himself with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday where everyone else appears to have been removed—except for a certain blonde aide.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump shared an image of him stoically saluting, standing beside a freshly arrived Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. A military jet flies overhead.

But when compared to actual video footage of the event, there are some strange differences.

In one video, Trump and Xi appeared to be accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan. In the photo, however, the men appear to be standing alone, with the women either completely obscured or removed entirely.

Despite the omission of the two first ladies, the image Trump posted included another woman: Monica Crowley, the U.S. chief of protocol, who shard multiple images of herself at the event.

There was widespread speculation that Crowley was actually Trump’s ever-present assistant Natalie Harp lurking in the background with her hand over her heart. It’s not clear whether Harp was in attendance at Xi’s arrival.

There are other notable details about the heavily edited image. In reality, Trump did not remain steely throughout the military flyover, but winced in pain at the loud noise from the B-1 heavy bomber overhead.

Trump also wore a winter coat and black gloves to receive Xi, despite the rather temperate weather in Washington, D.C. In the image, however, Trump appears to be wearing only one glove. Behind him, the military display appears to have been morphed into a row of strange, alien-like figures.

This story has been updated.

JD Vance Planted the Story That Sparked White House Media Ban

The White House says a media ban is needed to protect national security. But one of the stories it cited as a threat came straight from the vice president.

One of the stories the White House cited to justify its ban on Politico, MS NOW, and CNN had Vice President JD Vance as its main source.

The Washington Post reports that during a press call in June, the Trump administration invited news outlets to a briefing where a White House aide told participants, “The contents of this call are on background, attributable to a senior administration official. By remaining on the line, you agree to those terms. There is no embargo for the contents of the call.”

That senior administration official was none other than Vance, who told the media outlets on the call that a peace agreement with Iran was “80, 85 percent” done. Politico published an article with the quote attributed to a senior administration official—only for the White House to later claim in court, “Publication of sensitive security information, and misinformation about national security information, diverts White House resources and those of the national security team in particular.”

“The spread of misinformation, especially relating to national security, is a threat that undermines the President’s ability to safeguard the national........

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