President Donald Trump and another global leader reawakened a controversy that has kept the White House on edge for months.
Trump, now 80 years old, published a perplexing image on his Truth Social platform to summarize the first day of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit. The post sparked a frenzy online, with many users briefly mistaking a woman in the shot for one of Trump’s closest aides.
Trump greeted Xi with a 100-foot red carpet and a musical parade of a military band as two B-1 bombers roared overhead during the arrival ceremony on September 23.
The U.S. president and First Lady Melania Trump stood beneath Xi’s jet as he and his wife, Peng Liyuan, stepped down.
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The two couples later posed for photographers on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, while national anthems from both nations played softly in the background.
The circulating image Trump shared depicts him saluting as a composed Xi stands before a plane marked with Air China. The words “Only Trump” hover above their heads, with a ring of 13 stars behind them. Subtle details in the image raised alarms among watchers, leading many to wonder whether the image had been produced by artificial intelligence.
Social media users quickly pointed out the top aircraft in the scene and noted that Trump was wearing only one glove rather than two. A number of observers even remarked on a supposed weight change, saying, “They slimmed him down by 50 pounds.”
“Generated using AI. It’s notable that a certain Natalie Harp ended up in the frame, too,” noted one observer.
Many assumed the image depicted Trump’s trusted ally standing off to the side.
If Harp had somehow managed to send a doctored photo of Trump and Xi, people suggested, the facial features might point to Natalie Harp’s influence, with speculation centering on her as the operator behind the edit.
Outspoken Trump critic Aaron Rupar was among the first to speculate online that the photo showed Harp with Trump and Xi.
Roughly ten minutes later, he described the image as “AI slop,” which opened the floodgates for other X users to weigh in on Trump’s post. Harp quickly became a central target of the online commentary.
One commentator mused, “So — Natalie was upset Melania was present, edited her out, inserted herself, and posted the image on Trump’s Truth Social account. Totally normal behavior if you’re playing a role from a thriller.”
Another added, “WHAT?! Wait a moment. She has access to his social feeds as well. She posts for him. I bet she did this. She clearly needs help.”
Only a short time later, Rupar revealed the original image, admitting, “This story is far wilder than I anticipated.”
“That said, there’s a crucial twist — MONICA CROWLEY’S FACE HAS BEEN EDITED TO APPEAR LIKE NATALIE HARP’S. What on earth is happening here?” Rupar wrote.
He later clarified that the person in the altered image was actually Monica Crowley, the State Department’s chief of protocol. Rupar also claimed someone had manipulated the photo to resemble Harp.
Others observed that the AI modification had removed Crowley’s facial hair, further transforming her into a Harp-like appearance.
“You can tell who made it,” one commenter conceded. Another quipped, “A plagiarist, Monica Crowley gets AI-cropped to resemble Natalie Harp? It smells like a blond rivalry. Doesn’t Melania have a dog in this fight too?”
This latest chapter involving Harp follows earlier accusations that the White House had cropped her out of a previous photo during the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in August. Melania had stood by Trump’s side at that Washington, D.C. sporting event.
Whispers of a backstage feud between Melania and Natalie intensified after a breakfast-time Truth Social post from the president.
The prospect of further turmoil surrounding Trump’s relationship with Natalie appears almost inevitable.
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