A viral image shared on X, formerly Twitter, purports to show former President Donald Trump and late financier turned sex offender Jeffrey Epstein posing with a young girl.

Is that trump, epstein and a minor? pic.twitter.com/hRQ4OrfmID

— Flying Dutch Fella 🇺🇦🇳🇱 🇺🇦🇳🇱 🇺🇦🇳🇱 (@FlyingDutchPall) January 9, 2024

Verdict: False

A content detection scan using the website “Hive Moderation” reveals the image is 99% likely to have been created using artificial intelligence (AI). A media forensics and AI expert confirmed the image was not authentic in an email to Check Your Fact.

Fact Check:

In a recent post shared on his TRUTH Social account, Trump said he was “never on Epstein’s plane or at his stupid Island,” according to The Hill. Trump made the post after two AI-generated images purporting to show him with Epstein circulated online, the outlet reported.

“Is that Trump, Epstein and a minor?” the X post, viewed over 300,000 times, purports. The image appears to show Trump sitting on the left, Epstein in the middle, and a young girl on the right at a social gathering. Other people are also visible in the shot.

The image is not authentic, however. Check Your Fact performed a content detection scan using the website, “Hive Moderation,” and its results revealed the image is 99% likely to have been created using AI. The results also name the program Midjourney as having been used to generate the image.

One indication that the image is not authentic is the amount of fingers on the young girl’s visible hand. Looking closely at the image, only three fingers are visible, and, in addition, they appear deformed. Missing, extra, and/or deformed fingers are classic characteristics of AI-generated images, according to BuzzFeed News.

Screenshot captured via Hive Moderation

Likewise, Check Your Fact did not find the purported image of Trump and Epstein referenced in any recent credible news reports. The image also does not appear on Trump’s official website. (RELATED: Video Of Bill Clinton Being Asked About Epstein Is From 2022)

Court documents related to a case Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre has brought against the late financier’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell were unsealed on Jan. 3. Trump was among those named in the documents but has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Dr. Walter Scheirer, a media forensics and AI expert at the University of Notre Dame, confirmed the image was not authentic in an email to Check Your Fact.

Check Your Fact has also contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.