Fact Check: Photo Purportedly Shows Barron Trump Taking Picture of Melania Trump While Sitting on Her Lap. Here Are the Facts

Nick Hardinges
·2 min read
1.2k
X account @SundaeDivine/Photo from Getty
X account @SundaeDivine/Photo from Getty
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Claim:

An photo shared on X in March 2024 authentically showed Barron Trump taking a picture of his mother, Melania Trump, while sitting on her lap.

Rating:

Rating: True
Rating: True

On March 20, 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user @SundaeDivine posted a photo purportedly showing a young Barron Trump, the youngest son of former U.S. President Donald Trump, sitting on the lap of his mother, Melania Trump, and taking her picture in a palatial room (archived here).

Some X users questioned the optics of the image because of how Melania Trump's hands were placed on Barron's legs and how he was sitting on her thighs, which led others to ask whether the picture was real or generated using artificial intelligence.

Another X user even declared it was fake.

However, the photo was real and was found in the Getty Images library, which is why we labeled this claim "True."

It was taken on Jan. 6, 2016 — when Barron was 9 — during a photo shoot at Trump Tower in New York City and was credited to Regine Mahaux, according to the caption:

NEW YORK - JANUARY 06: Barron Trump is using the new FUJIFILM instax mini 90 as he and Melania Trump are photographed at Trump Tower on January 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Regine Mahaux/MT2016/Contour by Getty Images)

Similar photos showing the Trumps in different poses during the shoot also were in Getty's library.

Sources:

'Barron Trump Is Using the New FUJIFILM Instax Mini 90 as He And...' Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364178.

'---'. Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364194.

'---'. Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364172.

'Barron Trump Is Using the New FUJIFILM Instax Mini 90 as He Is...' Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364188.