Does a real photo show U.S. President Donald Trump walking past a U.S. flag that appears to touch the ground? Yes, that is an authentic photo: Its origin can be traced to a reputable news agency. A White House spokesperson did not deny the photo's authenticity, either, but stated that the image doesn't show the flag "fallen to the ground". Answering Lead Stories questions, a White House spokesperson said the flag was "lowered into a special container out of an abundance of caution" due to the weather conditions at the time of Marine One landing.
The image appeared in a post (archived here) on Reddit where it was published on November 17, 2025, under the following caption:
President Trump walking past the flag at the Whitehouse which has fallen to the ground.
This is what the picture looked like on Reddit at the time of writing:
(Source: Lead Stories screenshot of post by yetiking77 at reddit.com)
In the comment section, some users wondered if the image was a product of generative AI or digitally altered in any other manner. However, it was authentic.
A reverse image search quickly led to the original photo (archived here): A shot taken by Mandel Ngan/ AFP via Getty Images. The image's description read:
US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House upon his return to Washington, DC, on November 16, 2025. Trump is returning to the White House after spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, residence.
A search for the photographer's name across the AFP website produced multiple pages mentioning Ngan. A search across the Getty Images website, as of this writing, showed 106,895 examples of Ngan's work (archived here), and a social media account under that name published multiple posts that were consistent with the professional duties of a Washington, D.C.-based photographer documenting the White House.
When Lead Stories approached the White House for comments, a spokesman did not contest the authenticity of the image -- they disputed the position of the flag.
The beautiful American flag on the White House South Lawn that was recently installed by President Trump never touched the ground. Due to the high winds on Sunday evening in the Washington, D.C. area, the flag was lowered into a special container out of an abundance of caution during the Marine One landing.
