Declare:
A picture authentically reveals U.S. first woman Melania Trump pole dancing for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Score:
Score: Pretend
In April 2026, in a shock assertion to the media, U.S. first woman Melania Trump denied ties to disgraced businessman and intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. Describing her correspondence together with his affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell as “informal,” Melania Trump added, “I’m not Epstein’s sufferer. Epstein didn’t introduce me to Donald Trump.”
Quickly after she made the assertion, web customers circulated a picture they claimed confirmed Melania Trump pole dancing for Epstein. The picture beforehand unfold earlier within the yr after the U.S. Division of Justice launched greater than 3 million recordsdata associated to Epstein in late January. Snopes readers additionally despatched us the picture, asking if it was genuine.
The alleged {photograph} unfold on X:
(X consumer @KapitanLisowski)
The earliest instance of the picture we discovered appeared on Feb. 9 on the Instagram web page of the British artist Alison Jackson, who in keeping with her web site creates “convincingly sensible pictures, movies and sculpture depicting celebrities doing issues in personal.” The Instagram submit with the image had a caption studying, “Apparently, Melania was launched to Donald Trump by Epstein…” in addition to a disclaimer stating, “Fictional picture. No factual claims implied.” Consequently, we have rated the picture faux.
We messaged Jackson’s Instagram web page to verify she created the picture in query and can replace this story if we be taught extra.
(Instagram consumer @alisonjacksonartist)
Snopes has beforehand debunked different pictures that includes well-known folks created by the identical artist. For a earlier story a few faux picture of U.S. President Donald Trump and Epstein getting their toes washed by a woman, a spokesperson for Jackson instructed us: “The picture was created by Alison Jackson, she makes use of lookalikes of the general public figures and makes them look sensible, she additionally makes use of Ai – it is a bit of each.”
We looked for the picture within the Epstein recordsdata made accessible by the DOJ and located no such {photograph} within the recordsdata. A reverse picture search additionally discovered no credible sources sharing the purported {photograph}. If this picture had been truly within the recordsdata, main media shops would have extensively coated it.
We additionally ran the picture via Google Gemini’s SynthID verify, a device that scans for embedded watermarks enter via AI software program. That scan discovered no SynthID watermark and concluded that it was not created utilizing Google’s AI, however famous “SynthID solely detects Google’s particular watermark, so it can’t decide if the picture was created or altered utilizing different AI instruments or software program like Photoshop.”
We additionally analyzed the picture utilizing different AI detection instruments. Hive Moderation and Zero-GPT decided it was extremely prone to include AI-generated or deepfake content material. Sight Engine decided it was unlikely to be AI-generated. (Analysis reveals AI-detection software program is imperfect and readers ought to think about the instruments’ outcomes with skepticism.)
The picture has a number of pink flags that point out it was both AI-generated or closely edited. First, the shadow behind the lady’s determine is inconsistent and doesn’t solid the identical darkish shade onto Epstein seated behind her whereas showing to be lit in the identical method. Second, the lady’s fingers seem lower off across the pole. Third, it’s unclear the place the shadow on the mattress between the pole and the lady’s legs is coming from.
Snopes has beforehand investigated a picture claiming to indicate Melania Trump, Epstein’s affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell and some younger ladies or teenage women. Snopes has additionally analyzed the unsubstantiated declare that Melania Trump was an escort earlier than assembly her now-husband President Donald Trump at a celebration thrown by Maxwell.
Sources:
Epstein Library. Division of Justice, https://www.justice.gov/epstein. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
Ibrahim, Nur. “Investigating Alleged Photograph of Melania Trump, Ghislaine Maxwell and Unidentified Ladies.” Snopes, 7 Feb. 2026, https://www.snopes.com//information/2026/02/07/melania-trump-ghislaine-maxwell-girls-photo/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
Izzo, Jack. “Unraveling Declare Melania Was an Escort earlier than Assembly Trump at Ghislaine Maxwell Get together.” Snopes, 1 Sept. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//information/2025/09/01/melania-trump-escort-ghislaine-maxwell-party/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
Kar, Sujita Kumar, et al. “How Delicate Are the Free AI-Detector Instruments in Detecting AI-Generated Texts? A Comparability of Common AI-Detector Instruments.” Indian Journal of Psychological Drugs, vol. 47, no. 3, Could 2025, pp. 275–78. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176241247934. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
Workplace of Public Affairs | Division of Justice Publishes 3.5 Million Responsive Pages in Compliance with the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act | United States Division of Justice. 30 Jan. 2026, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-publishes-35-million-responsive-pages-compliance-epstein-files. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
“Confirm Google AI-Generated Photos, Movies, and Audio with SynthID.” Gemini Apps Assist. https://help.google.com/gemini/reply/16722517. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.