Fact Check: Photo Of Trump Kneeling, Removing Clinton's Pants Isn't What It Seems

Claim:

An authentic photograph shows Donald Trump kneeling and unbuckling Bill Clinton’s trousers while the latter is seated in a leather armchair.

Rating:

Rating: Fake

In November 2025, an image circulated claiming to show a man in a library who looked like U.S. President Donald Trump in 2004, kneeling and unbuckling the trousers of another man, who appeared to be former President Bill Clinton. The image circulated after Trump signed into law a bill that forces the release of files related to the case of the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The image appeared to be referencing an email sent by Mark Epstein in which he asked his brother, Jeffrey, to check with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon about whether “Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba,” referring to oral sex. “Bubba” was widely rumored to be referring to Clinton, though Mark reportedly denied this.

The image, which spread on Reddit, Instagram, Facebook and X, purportedly showed Trump and Clinton in a library, with one man (assumed to be Trump though only the back of his head with his distinctive hair is visible) kneeling on a carpet before a smiling Clinton, who is seated on a leather armchair. Trump is purportedly unbuckling Clinton’s belt, suggesting the two men were engaging in a sexual act. Several videos on Instagram claimed to have run the image through artificial intelligence-detector (AI) tools that concluded it was real.

(Reddit)

While many AI-detection tools claimed the image was unlikely to be AI-generated, we found plenty of inconsistencies in the image that show it was manipulated in some way. We found no evidence that this interaction took place, let alone was photographed. As such, we rate this image as fake.

We have reached out to digital forensic specialists to learn more about the image above and will update this story accordingly.

Several online users claimed the image was generated with Google’s AI Gemini chatbot as it supposedly carried a SynthID watermark — a digital watermark embedded directly into AI-generated images created through Google’s tools. When we ran the image through Google Gemini, it stated: “Yes, this image contains SynthID watermarks. The SynthID tool detected that all or part of the content was generated with Google AI (watermark detected in >50% of the image).”

However, we do not have access to the SynthID Detector tool itself, which had a waitlist, as of this writing. We reached out to Google to determine more about the image and will update this story accordingly.

Snopes ran the image through AI-detection tools AI or Not, SightEngine, and Hive Moderation. Hive Moderation determined it was likely AI generated, while AI or Not and Sight Engine said it was unlikely. Research shows AI-detection software is imperfect. Readers should consider the tools’ results with skepticism.

We then looked closely at potential sources for the image. Using reverse-image search tools, we were unable to find any authentic news reporting or original source information for such a photograph. Snopes also found no reported evidence of their interactions from October 2004, per the time-stamp at the bottom right of the image. Were such an image real, it would have been front-page news.

In fact, in September 2004, Clinton underwent heart bypass surgery, according to The New York Times. He was gearing up to support Democratic then-presidential candidate John Kerry’s election campaign. On Oct. 24, 2004 — a day after the alleged photograph with Trump was taken — Clinton was photographed in his home in Chappaqua, New York, in an interview with journalist Diane Sawyer about his recent surgery and the upcoming election. On Oct. 25, 2004, he joined Kerry at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.

Between recovering from heart surgery in his home and jumping into campaigning for Kerry, it seems highly improbable that Clinton found time to be photographed in a compromising position with Trump.

We also looked at the image itself, which is of a very low quality. The carpet on which “Trump” is kneeling has an inconsistent pattern, and there are no shadows under the two men’s hands or under the leather armchair. The lettering on the books in the background is also incomprehensible. The purported “Trump” figure’s knuckle also appears strangely shaped, showing his left hand’s ring finger at an odd angle.

The two men were frequently photographed together at events in the 2000s, and some of the photos were misrepresented and manipulated on social media. We have previously covered a miscaptioned photograph of Trump that claimed he was grabbing Clinton’s privates at the U.S. Open in 2000. We also debunked a fake video that showed Trump kissing Clinton’s crotch but actually used an AI tool to bring an authentic still picture to life.

Sources:

“Clinton Sawyer Interview.” AP Newsroom, Oct. 24, 2004, https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=42dc48ffece0da11af9f0014c2589dfb&mediatype=photo. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

Esposito, Joey. “Epstein’s Brother Sent Email about Trump ‘blowing’ Someone Named ‘Bubba.'” Snopes, 14 Nov. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/epstein-bubba-trump-blowing/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

Gerstein, Josh. ” New Photos Show Bill Clinton Yukking It up with Trump, Melania, and Swimsuit Model.” Politico, 9 Sept. 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/new-photos-bill-clinton-trump-melania-227945. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

Ibrahim, Nur. “Real Photo of Trump and Bill Clinton Shared with False Claim about Groping.” Snopes, 17 Nov. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-bill-clinton-photo/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

Kar, Sujita Kumar, et al. “How Sensitive Are the Free AI-Detector Tools in Detecting AI-Generated Texts? A Comparison of Popular AI-Detector Tools.” Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, vol. 47, no. 3, May 2025, pp. 275–78. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176241247934. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

Liles, Jordan. “Video of Trump Kissing Clinton’s Crotch Was Created Using AI.” Snopes, 18 Nov. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/ai-video-trump-clinton/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

McFadden, Robert D. “Clinton Suffers Pains in Chest; Bypass Surgery Is Scheduled.” The New York Times, 4 Sept. 2004, https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/04/us/clinton-suffers-pains-in-chest-bypass-surgery-is-scheduled.html. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

“SynthID.” Google DeepMind, https://deepmind.google/models/synthid/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

“Thousands Cheer Clinton at Philly Rally for Kerry.” NBC News, 25 Oct. 2004, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6328991. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.

“Trump Signs Bill to Release Jeffrey Epstein Case Files after Fighting It for Months.” AP News, 20 Nov. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-jeffrey-epstein-justice-department-4872c23a3ed03bf3d4c526581d3aed59. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.