Viral photos of Donald Trump’s ‘mugshot’ are fake

As part of the arraignment process, Trump had to officially surrender, which required him to do things like submit his fingerprints and appear before a judge. 

After he appeared in court, photos claiming to show his mugshot went viral online. 

In an email to newsletter subscribers, the Trump campaign also included a photo showing a mug shot with the subject line: “NEW ITEM: mug shot.” The email has a T-shirt featuring a mug shot for sale, with the proceeds going directly to the Trump campaign.

THE QUESTION

Do these photos show Donald Trump’s mugshot from his New York arraignment?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

No, these photos do not show Donald Trump’s mugshot from his New York arraignment. These mugshot photos are fake.  

WHAT WE FOUND

The photos that have gone viral online are not real and there is no evidence a mugshot of Trump was taken at his arraignment in New York.

According to a post on DePaul University’s website, the purpose of the mugshot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of all arrested individuals, and to allow for identification by victims and investigators.

The New York Times reported Trump would likely not have his mugshot taken because photographs of Trump are so widely available. Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina also told reporters on Tuesday, April 4 – the same day as his arraignment – that Trump was not expected to get his mugshot taken. 

VERIFY reached out to Tacopina’s firm for comment but did not hear back at the time of publication.

Furthermore, New York state law doesn’t require police or courts to release mug shots of people involved in criminal prosecution.

A New York state law passed in 2019 says “disclosure of law enforcement arrest or booking photographs of an individual” is an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” unless disclosing the photographs serves a specific law enforcement purpose.

That means, if a mugshot of Trump did exist, it likely wouldn’t be released to the public. 

An apparent Trump mug shot that went viral on Twitter was actually created using artificial intelligence technologies. VERIFY could not confirm which program was used, but in searching Midjourney, VERIFY found several examples of fake images being created to falsely show Trump arrested or in trial. Midjourney is a free artificial intelligence tool that allows the user to create realistic images. 

Other similar artificially generated images have spread recently on social media and Midjourney related to Trump’s indictment, as VERIFY has previously reported.

There are subtle clues that confirm the AI mug shot image was digitally created. For example:

The image the Trump campaign has been using on T-shirts also isn’t real. The photo used in that design has been widely used for other Trump merchandise. This Amazon poster for sale features the same photo – also falsely claiming to show a mug shot – and includes a placard dated Jan. 20, 2021. 

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