When President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Nov. 16 after a weekend at Mar-a-Lago, no one expected a flag in the background to create the loudest conversation online. But that is exactly what happened.
Photos of Trump stepping off Marine One were posted online soon after his arrival. At first, they looked like any other routine White House landing. The helicopter. The South Lawn. The president is walking toward the door.
But people quickly noticed something off.
In the background, the U.S. flag on one of the newer flagpoles appeared to be hanging low enough that it might be touching the ground. That caught attention fast because the U.S. flag code makes one point very clear: the flag should “never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”
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So the zooming and screenshotting began. Users circled the flag, compared angles, and debated whether it was actually on the ground or just looked that way.
One X user even claimed the photo “should win a Pulitzer,” calling it a moment where “a worn Trump” stands in front of a fallen flag, a symbol of the mess he has brought the country into.
This should win a Pulitzer.
A visibly defeated and worn Trump, with the American flag lying on the ground in the background.
A symbol of his down fall, and the disgrace he has brought the American people. pic.twitter.com/zxX66RAmjj
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) November 17, 2025
Snopes, which received messages from readers asking if the photo was real, said the image was authentic. It was taken by veteran photographer Mandel Ngan and uploaded to Getty Images like all official press photos. But the angle of the shot did not confirm whether the flag actually touched the ground.
Snopes reached out to both the White House and the photographer and said it would not give the claim a truth rating until it had more clarity.
The White House, however, responded quickly.
In an email to Snopes, spokesman Davis Ingle dismissed the idea that the flag had hit the ground, calling it “fake news.” He added, “Due to the high winds on Sunday evening in the Washington, D.C. area, the flag was lowered into a special container out of an abundance of caution during the Marine One landing.”
The explanation raised its own questions. The flag code does not mention exceptions for wind, landings, or “special containers.” And a container, by definition, is still beneath the flag. So the discussion online kept going.
The photos also showed a box-shaped object near the base of the flagpole, which only added more curiosity. Some users shared what they said were alternate angles, though Snopes could not confirm those additional images were real.
The flag on the ground at the White House. Yikes! pic.twitter.com/nT1zAkCDyv
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) November 17, 2025
Even so, they appeared to show the flag swinging low enough that contact with the ground was possible.
Featured image via X screengrab
