Fact Check: Old photo of Barron Trump straddling Melania's lap while taking her picture spreads online again
A photo repeatedly shared online authentically showed a young Barron Trump taking a picture of his mother, Melania Trump, while straddling her lap.
Rating:
A picture purportedly showing a young Barron Trump — U.S. President Donald Trump's and first lady Melania Trump's youngest son — taking his mother's photo while straddling her lap has been repeatedly shared online for more than a year.
For example, one Threads user who shared the photograph in late July 2025 (archived) was convinced it showed the pair had an incestuous relationship. The picture also resurfaced on Reddit in August 2025 (archived).
View on Threads
Meanwhile, one Bluesky user who shared the photograph in mid-July 2025 said it was evidence of "generational depravity" in the Trump family (archived). Throughout the month, it appeared elsewhere on Bluesky (archived), in numerous Threads posts (archived, archived) and on X (archived). It also cropped up on social media throughout 2024.
Some X users questioned the optics of the image because of how Melania's hands were placed on Barron's legs and how he was sitting on her thighs. Others asked whether the picture was real or generated using artificial intelligence. Another X user even declared that it was fake.
However, the photo was real and was found in the Getty Images library; therefore, we have rated this claim as true.
It was captured in early January 2016 — when Barron was 9 — during a photo shoot at Trump Tower in New York City and was credited to Regine Mahaux, according to the Getty caption:
NEW YORK - JANUARY 06: Barron Trump is using the new FUJIFILM instax mini 90 as he and Melania Trump are photographed at Trump Tower on January 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Regine Mahaux/MT2016/Contour by Getty Images)
Similar photos showing the mother and son in different poses during the shoot were also in Getty's library.
The picture resurfaced as numerous other old photos of the Trump family, and photographs of Donald Trump and deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reappeared on social media following the release of a July 7, 2025, U.S. Department of Justice memo stating that a DOJ review found no incriminating "client list" related to Epstein and no credible evidence that he had blackmailed prominent people.
'Barron Trump Is Using the New FUJIFILM Instax Mini 90 as He And...' Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364178.
'---'. Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364194.
'---'. Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364172.
'Barron Trump Is Using the New FUJIFILM Instax Mini 90 as He Is...' Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2016, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/barron-trump-is-using-the-new-fujifilm-instax-mini-90-as-he-news-photo/620364188.
PerryCook, Taija. 'Photo Shows Trump and Epstein Together at Mar-a-Lago in 1997'. Snopes, 20 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-epstein-photo-1997/.
---. 'Real Photo of Trump, Wife Melania, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell?' Snopes, 22 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trumps-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell/.
Shan, Cindy. 'Another Old Photo of Trump and Daughter Ivanka Makes the Rounds Again'. Snopes, 24 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-photo-ivanka/.
Wrona, Aleksandra. 'Photo of Trump and Daughter Ivanka Posing on Bed Together Is Real'. Snopes, 24 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/donald-ivanka-trump-bed-photo/.
---. 'Photo of Trump, Epstein and Minor Girl Keeps Resurfacing. It's Not Real'. Snopes, 25 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-epstein-minor-girl-photo/.
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