***DISCLAIMER: The original story was first published in March 2024***
Folks, if you’re sitting down, you might want to stay seated for this one. A photo of Melania Trump with her young son Barron has resurfaced, and it’s causing a wave of shock and disgust across the internet. Now, before you think it’s another one of those AI-generated deep fakes, let me stop you right there. It’s real. Verified. This disturbing image from a 2016 photoshoot at Trump Tower is enough to make anyone wonder how it was ever considered acceptable, and why CPS wasn’t knocking on the door.
The image shows young Barron—nine years old at the time—sitting on his mother’s lap, aiming a camera down at her face and chest. Melania is holding onto her son’s thighs while a few Polaroid shots of herself are scattered across the couch. Yeah, I know. It’s bizarre, and to say it’s inappropriate barely scratches the surface.
This unsettling photo went viral after being reposted on social media by user @Sundae_Divine, and people were rightfully skeptical. In this age of AI, it’s hard to trust what you see online. Could it really be real? Well, unfortunately, the fact-checkers at Snopes confirmed that it is. The image was snapped during a photo shoot by Regine Mahaux, and it’s not just a one-off—there’s an entire album of Trump family pictures in this same peculiar style.
