Chelsea did not share championship photo with Trump edited out
The post shows two nearly identical photos side by side. One of the pictures, from FIFA and available via Getty Images, shows Trump smiling and clapping as Chelsea captain Reese James the trophy (archived here). The other image is the same, except that Trump has vanished from the frame.
Image
Screenshot from X taken July 15, 2025
Similar posts claiming the Blues edited Trump out of the photo they broadcast online spread across platforms, including X, Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
The claim circulated after Trump joined FIFA President Gianni Infantino in presenting the trophy to Chelsea, defeated France's Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the tournament The US president lingered front and center as the team cheered James hoisting the hardware overhead before Infantino came over and ushered him behind the rest of
James, who appeared to ask Trump in the moment whether he was going to leave, later said he thought the president was going to exit the stage.
star Cole Palmer added that he was "a bit confused" as Trump stayed on the podium.
Image
Chelsea's players celebrate alongside US President Donald Trump during the award ceremony for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, following the final football match between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 13, 2025 (AFP / Paul ELLIS)
The claims that the club doctored a photo to edit Trump out of the shot, however, are not supported by evidence.
AFP could not identify the original source of the photo with Trump edited out, but a review of Chelsea's website, championship blog post and profiles on X, Facebook and Instagram shows the team did not share the specific picture (archived here, here, here, here and here).
The president is in fact visible in a different photo Chelsea pinned to the top of its X, Facebook and Instagram pages -- although he is standing toward the back and partially blocked from view (archived here, here and here). He can be seen smiling behind winger Pedro Neto, to James's right.
He also appears in a video from the ceremony that the club shared (archived here).
Other pictures the team posted leave the president out of the frame (archived here and here).
AFP has previously debunked other misinformation about US politics here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
8 minutes ago
- France 24
Starmer to press Trump on Gaza, trade in Scotland talks
The talks will come a day after the US and the European Union reached a landmark deal to end a transatlantic standoff over tariffs and avert a full-blown trade war. Starmer is expected to push Trump on urging a revival of stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as a hunger crisis deepens in the besieged Palestinian territory. The meeting at Turnberry, southwestern Scotland, comes as European countries express growing alarm at the situation in Gaza, and as Starmer faces domestic pressure to follow France's lead and recognise a Palestinian state. The leaders will also discuss implementing a recent UK-US trade deal, as well as efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine, according to a British government statement issued late Sunday. But it is the growing threat of starvation faced by Palestinians in Gaza that is set to dominate the talks, on the third full day of Trump's trip to the land where his mother was born. Starmer is expected to "welcome the president's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza," a Downing Street spokesperson said. 'Reject hunger' Trump told reporters Sunday that the United States would give more aid to Gaza but he wanted other countries to step up as well. "It's not a US problem. It's an international problem," he said, before embarking on crunch trade talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at the resort south of Glasgow. He also accused Hamas of intercepting aid, saying "they're stealing the food, they're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in and they steal it, then they sell it." Starmer and Trump's meeting comes after the UK PM backed efforts by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to air drop aid to Gaza. Humanitarian chiefs remain sceptical those aid drops can deliver enough food safely for the area's more than two million inhabitants. On Sunday, Israel declared a "tactical pause" in fighting in parts of Gaza and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle the hunger crisis. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged the international community on Monday to fight against hunger around the world. "Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war," he told a UN conference. Tariffs Last week, the United States and Israel withdrew from Gaza truce talks, with US envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of blocking a deal -- a claim rejected by the Palestinian militant group. Starmer held talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, after which the UK government said they agreed "it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace". But the Downing Street statement made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his country will recognise in September. More than 220 MPs in Britain's 650-seat parliament, including dozens from Starmer's own ruling Labour party, have demanded that he too recognise Palestinian statehood. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told ITV on Monday that "every Labour MP, was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state" and that it was "a case of when, not if." Number 10 said Starmer and Trump would also discuss "progress on implementing the UK-US trade deal", which was signed on May 8 and lowered tariffs for certain UK exports but has yet to come into force. Trump said Sunday the agreement was "great" for both sides but Reynolds told BBC Breakfast on Monday that "it wasn't job done" and cautioned not to expect any announcement of a resolution on issues such as steel and aluminium tariffs. After their meeting the two leaders will travel together to Aberdeen in Scotland's northeast, where the US president is expected to formally open a new golf course at his resort on Tuesday. Trump played golf at Turnberry on Saturday and Sunday on his five-day visit that has mixed leisure with diplomacy, and also further blurred the lines between the presidency and his business interests.
France 24
8 minutes ago
- France 24
War in Gaza: Israel says 120 trucks of aid distributed
02:02 28/07/2025 US and EU clinch deal with 15% US tariff on most EU exports to avert trade war 28/07/2025 Tadej Pogacar wins a fourth Tour de France, Wout van Aert takes the final stage 28/07/2025 Trump and Von der Leyen strike a deal in transatlantic tariff standoff 27/07/2025 REPLAY & ANALYSIS: Trump - Von Der Leyen meet about tariffs in Scotland Europe 27/07/2025 Thai-Cambodian border clashes: Trump threatens to withhold trade deals until ceasefire Asia / Pacific 27/07/2025 Euro 2025: Lionesses of England take on la Furia Roja of Spain Sport 27/07/2025 Israel announces daily pauses in Gaza fighting as aid airdrops begin Middle East 27/07/2025 Pogacar leads peloton into Paris for Tour de France final stage Sport 27/07/2025 Gaza: Israel announces daily 10-hour pauses aimed at facilitating humanitarian aid Middle East
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
US and China to talk in Stockholm as trade truce expiration nears
When top US and Chinese officials meet in Stockholm on Monday, it's likely that they will agree to leave tariffs at the current levels, if they don't secure a more favourable framework. Analysts say the two sides are working to secure a more lasting trade deal ahead of a meeting between their presidents later this year. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are holding talks on Monday for the third time this year. This round of discussions is taking place in the Swedish capital, nearly four months after President Donald Trump upset global trade with his sweeping tariff proposal, including an import tax that shot up to 145% on Chinese goods. 'We have the confines of a deal with China,' Trump said on Friday. Bessent told MSNBC on Wednesday that the two countries had reached a 'status quo' after talks in Geneva and London, with the US taxing imported goods from China at 30% and China responding with a 10% tariff, on top of tariffs prior to the start of Trump's second term in office. 'Now we can move on to discussing other matters in terms of bringing the economic relationship into balance,' Bessent said. He was referring to the US running a $295.5 billion (€253.1bn) trade deficit last year. Washington is seeking an agreement that would enable it to export more to China and shift the Chinese economy more toward domestic consumer spending. The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing hopes 'there will be more consensus and cooperation and less misperception' coming out of the talks. With an eye on a possible leaders' summit, Stockholm could provide some answers as to the timeline and viability of that particular goal ahead of a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. 'The meeting will be important in starting to set the stage for a fall meeting between Trump and Xi,' said Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator and now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. 'Beijing will likely insist on detailed preparations before they agree to a leaders' meeting.' In Stockholm, the two sides are likely to focus on commercial announcements to be made at a leaders' summit as well as agreements to address 'major irritants', such as China's industrial overcapacity and its lack of control over chemicals used to make fentanyl, also to be announced when Xi and Trump should meet, Cutler said. Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council, said Stockholm could be the first real opportunity for the two governments to address structural reform issues including market access in China for US companies. What businesses will be seeking coming out of Stockholm would largely be 'the atmosphere' — how the two sides characterise the discussions. They will also look for clues about a possible leaders' summit, as any real deal will hinge on the two presidents meeting each other, he said. Fentanyl-related tariffs are likely a focus for China In Stockholm, Beijing will likely demand the removal of the 20% fentanyl-related tariff that Trump imposed earlier this year, said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center. This round of the US-China trade dispute began with fentanyl, when Trump in February imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, citing that China failed to curb the outflow of the chemicals used to make the drug. The following month, Trump added another 10% tax for the same reason. Beijing retaliated with extra duties on some US goods, including coal, liquefied natural gas, and farm products such as beef, chicken, pork and soy. In Geneva, both sides climbed down from three-digit tariffs rolled out following Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs in April, but the US kept the 20% 'fentanyl' tariffs, in addition to the 10% baseline rate — to which China responded by keeping the same 10% rate on US products. These across-the-board duties were unchanged when the two sides met in London a month later to negotiate over non-tariff measures such as export controls on critical products. The Chinese government has long protested that American politicians blame China for the fentanyl crisis in the US but argued the root problem lies with the US itself. Washington says Beijing is not doing enough to regulate precursor chemicals that flow out of China into the hands of drug dealers. In July, China placed two fentanyl ingredients under enhanced control, a move seen as in response to US pressure and signalling goodwill. Gabriel Wildau, managing director at the consultancy Teneo, said he doesn't expect any tariff to go away in Stockholm but that tariff relief could be part of a final trade deal. 'It's possible that Trump would cancel the 20% tariff that he has explicitly linked with fentanyl, but I would expect the final tariff level on China to be at least as high as the 15-20% rate contained in the recent deals with Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam,' Wildau said. US wants China to dump less, buy less oil from Russia and Iran China's industrial overcapacity is as much a headache for the United States as it is for the European Union. Even Beijing has acknowledged the problem but suggested it might be difficult to address. America's trade imbalance with China has decreased from a peak of $418bn (€358bn) in 2018, according to the Census Bureau. But China has found new markets for its goods; the world's dominant manufacturer ran a global trade surplus approaching $1 trillion last year — somewhat larger than the size of the US overall trade deficit in 2024. And China's emergence as a manufacturer of electric vehicles and other emerging technologies has suddenly made it more of a financial and geopolitical threat for those same industries based in the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea. 'Some enterprises, especially manufacturing enterprises, feel more deeply that China's manufacturing capabilities are too strong, and Chinese people are too hardworking. Factories run 24 hours a day,' Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday when hosting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing. 'Some people think this will cause some new problems in the balance of supply and demand in world production.' Li added: 'We see this problem too.' Bessent also said the Stockholm talks could address Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil. However, Wildau of Teneo said China could demand some US security concessions in exchange, such as a reduced US military presence in East Asia and scaled-back diplomatic support for Taiwan and the Philippines. This would likely face political pushback in Washington. The Stockholm talks will be 'geared towards building a trade agreement based around Chinese purchase commitments and pledges of investment in the US in exchange for partial relief from U.S. tariffs and export controls,' Wildau said. He doubts there will be a grand deal. Instead, he predicts 'a more limited agreement based around fentanyl'. 'That,' he said, 'is probably the preferred outcome for China hawks in the Trump administration, who worry that an overeager Trump might offer too much to Xi.'
