AI-Generated Deepfake Image of Trump With Walker Spread Widely on Social Media
A deepfake image purporting to show President Trump using a walker after signing an AI regulation executive order spread widely on social media in December 2025, accumulating millions of views. The image was confirmed by AI detection tools to be artificially generated, though it was initially shared without satire labeling and many users treated it as factual.
What happened
On December 11, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order limiting states' ability to enforce their own AI regulations. The next day, a digitally generated image purporting to show Trump using a medical walker after signing the order was posted on X by Democratic strategist Keith Edwards, who stated 'BREAKING: an image has leaked showing Trump using a walker moments after he signed an executive order banning states from regulating AI.'
The image garnered 9.7 million views and 72,000 likes in under one day. Another liberal X user shared the image stating it was a leaked image showing Trump using a walker, receiving 63,500 views and 1,600 likes within a day. Edwards may have intended his post to be satirical, but he did not label it as such, and many users apparently took it seriously.
Reported impact
The deepfake image received millions of views across social media platforms and was treated by many as factual evidence of Trump's frailty, despite being an AI-generated fabrication. NewsGuard identified it as its 'False Claim of the Week' due to its widespread appearance, high engagement levels, and potential for harm.
Index analysis
AI detection tools used by NewsGuard confirmed the image was created by artificial intelligence. Google's Gemini identified inconsistent background details, distortions, unnatural focus, and muddled textures as signs of manipulation, and also detected a SynthID digital watermark confirming the image as fake. ChatGPT similarly identified inconsistent background details, distortions, unnatural focus and muddled textures.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.