On September 4, the X account of the press office of the Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, published a photo of Donald Trump looking puffy and sick. The picture was viewed 4.9 million times.
Amid unverified speculation on social media about the US president's alleged poor health, the photo appeared credible to many internet users: “Not photoshopped. Is this the beginning of the end?” wondered one X user who seemed to believe the photo was authentic.
“HAHAHA: Gavin Newsom's press office just released this VERY REAL photo of Trump after he posted a distorted image of Rosie O'Donnell. Donald should take his own presidential fitness test!” wrote Harry Sisson, a pro-Democrat American influencer with 237,000 followers, in a clearly sarcastic post on Threads.
However, this photo is misleading: it is a real image that has been retouched – probably using artificial intelligence – to make Trump look puffy.
A reverse image search (see here how to do it) reveals the original image. It was taken on July 28, 2022, during a golf tournament in Bedminster, New Jersey, by a photographer from the Associated Press news agency. The photo can be found in the agency's image bank. In the original image, Trump appears much slimmer than in the photograph shared by Governor Newsom’s press office.
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Newsom's press office acknowledged and accepted responsibility for publishing a retouched image to the fact-checking website Snopes.
"Of course it's edited – that's why it's so funny. We posted it so the world can laugh at the bumbling, senile president of the United States," Izzy Gordon, director of communications for Newsom's office, told Snopes. Without any commentary or caption to indicate that it was a satirical montage, the photo may have misled some internet users about its veracity.
Just as in another video in which the governor questions the presence of bruises on Trump's hands, the publication of this photo indicates that the governor is repeating the yet-unproven rumours about the president's poor health.
A ‘dark woke’ communication strategy
The publication of a fake photo of Trump by the official account of a Democratic governor might seem surprising.
However, it is actually part of an aggressive communication strategy adopted by Newsom. As put by the BBC, the governor has gone “dark woke” in recent weeks. “Woke” is lately used as a pejorative term used to describe someone with progressive views.
To take on Trump on social media, Newsom has no qualms about imitating the provocative style of the US president's posts. The governor now writes some of his messages in capital letters, as Trump does on his Truth Social network.
Read moreMeme-lord Newsom riles Republicans with Trump-trolling posts
Like Trump, Newsom also uses AI to produce satirical posts or to promote himself. On August 15, the Democratic governor published a cover of Time magazine in which he appears crowned. The message is that the governor is allegorically presenting himself as a king to boast of his political success. This is obviously a fake cover generated by AI; it cannot be found on the magazine's website.
This fake cover is actually an imitation of a post by Trump published on February 19, in which the president also appeared crowned on a supposed Time magazine cover. It was also a fake front page generated by AI in which the president claimed the title of King of New York for his decision to abolish the city's congestion pricing scheme – a system designed to reduce traffic by charging a tax.
Newsom also shares AI-generated memes – humorous or satirical images.
On August 15, 2025, the governor mocked Trump's claim that he wanted to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Newsom published a crude photo montage containing a spelling mistake, claiming that calls from around the world wanted to see the governor of California win Alfred Nobel's award.
On August 18, the governor shared an AI-generated image of Mount Rushmore with his face carved into the monument alongside four US presidents. He beat Trump to the punch in this self-celebratory gesture: the president didn't publish his own AI-generated photo of himself in front of Mount Rushmore until September 5.
According to the Washington Post, these posts made Newsom the most talked-about politician among left-wing influencers.
‘Trolling’ to fight back against Trump
Speaking on Fox 11 on August 20, Newsom explained that he changed his communication strategy after Trump attacked him during the fires that ravaged Los Angeles in January.
Trump had accused the governor of refusing to sign a programme to mobilise water reserves that could have been used to fight the fires. However, according to experts, these accusations were unfounded.
“I've never seen anything like it. In the middle of an emergency, so many lies. It was a big wake-up call,” Newsom told Fox 11. "Yes, I've changed. The facts have changed, we need to change. [...] I respect the Republican Party. I married into a Republican family... he is something altogether different... there are no constraints. We're going to punch back with the full weight of the 4th largest economy in the world!"
This article has been translated from the original in French.
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