Did California Governor Gavin Newsom's press office publish a real photo of President Trump's face looking bloated and red? No, that's not true: The image was digitally edited to puff up the chin and neck area to make them look more bloated. The original photo was taken by Associated Press at a 2022 golf tournament.
The image appeared in a post on X (archived here) published by @GovPressOffice on September 4, 2025 with no comment. This is what the image looked like:
(Image source: photo posted by @GovPressOffice on X)
According to Snopes:
The original photo (archived) of Trump was taken by an Associated Press photographer in July 2022 (archived). It showed him playing in the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., according to the caption.
Lead Stories overlaid the pictures and the edges and details like strands of hair indeed match. But an animation flipping between the face in the original photo and the one posted by Newsom's press office clearly shows the lower part of the face and the neck were digitally edited to appear more bloated and puffy:
(Image source: animation created by Lead Stories altering between the AP photo and the photo posted by Newsom's press office)
