Don't be fooled by these fake mugshots of former President Trump

1 year ago 8

VERIFY separates former President Trump’s real mugshot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta from the fakes circulating online.

Former President Donald Trump surrendered and was booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Thursday, Aug. 24.

The former president had his mugshot taken during his booking at the jail and was later released.

Trump is facing 13 charges in Georgia over his alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, including racketeering, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, conspiracy to commit forgery and filing false documents.

Photos shared on social media on Thursday claim to show Trump’s mugshot. VERIFY looked into whether the images are real or fake.

THE QUESTION

Do these photos show Donald Trump’s mugshot taken in Georgia?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

No, the photos do not show Trump’s mugshot taken in Georgia. While there is a real mugshot of the former president, these onlines circulating online are fake.

WHAT WE FOUND

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office released Trump’s mugshot after he surrendered at the county jail on Aug. 24.

The mugshot shows Trump wearing a blue suit jacket and red tie, with a gray background and Fulton County Sheriff’s Office badge behind him.

Several examples of fake mugshots are circulating online.

One of the fake mugshots shared widely on social media likely tricked people because it showed the official sheriff’s office badge. But Trump is pictured wearing a striped tie, rather than a red one, in the fake photo.

A photo published by the Associated Press on Aug. 24 also shows Trump wearing a navy blue suit jacket and red tie as he steps off his plane at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Another of the fake mugshots shows Trump wearing a black T-shirt. You can immediately tell the photo is fake by looking at the times it was posted on social media.

Two users shared it hours before Trump turned himself in and his mugshot was released to the public.

This isn’t the first time the fake mugshot has circulated online, either. It went viral in April when Trump was arraigned in New York and VERIFY found that it was created using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

There are other subtle clues that confirm the AI mugshot image was digitally created:

The background behind Trump doesn’t match what other mugshots look like in Fulton County. Mugshots taken in the county, including this one of Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, feature a sheriff’s badge that is missing in the fake mugshot.
The background is unfinished and shows nail holes.
In the AI-generated image, Trump is wearing a black T-shirt instead of the blue suit jacket and red tie shown in the real mugshot.

A mugshot that shows Trump wearing a suit and holding a placard is not real, either. The former president’s campaign has used the fake image on T-shirts in recent months.

That photo was lifted from this portrait of then-president Trump on his final day in office.

The Associated Press and VERIFY journalist Kelly Jones contributed to this report.

The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, text alerts and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Learn More »