‘Did Natalie Harp edit out Melania?’: Trump's Truth Social photo of Xi Jinping arrival sparks row

Trump posted a seemingly edited photo of Natalie Harp from Xi's arrival. It sparked a row over alleged editing out of Melania Trump from the photo.

Updated on: Sep 24, 2026, 22:23:06 IST

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President Donald Trump, joined by First Lady Melania Trump, gave China President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, a grand welcome as they arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday for a three-day state visit to the US.

On Thursday morning, ahead of a day-long series of scheduled meetings and events with Xi Jinping and Chinese officials, Trump posted a photo of the arrival ceremony on Truth Social. The photo created a controversy as it appeared severely edited, and social media wasted no time in reading between the lines.

The photo featured the 80-year-old flanked by Xi Jinping, saluting as a fleet of the US Air Force's B-12 bombers flew in honor of the Chinese leader's arrival. A B-12 bomber can be seen flying, with text just below it read: "Only Trump."

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On Trump's left, his personal secretary and White House aide Natalie Harp could be seen standing. Here's the photo.

Was Melania Edited Out?

Social media users noticed that Melania Trump, who also attended the event alongside Trump, was not in the photo, even though the original frame had her standing just behind Trump.

The New Republic reports that the actual footage of the event shows several "strange differences" with the photo that Trump posted on social media. Beyond the alleged editing out of Melania Trump, the report claimed that Trump aide Monica Crawley was superimposed with Natalie Harp.

Monica Crawley, notably, attended the event and posted several photos of herself from Joint Base Andrews. It is unclear, however, is Natalie Harp also attended it.

Here's the footage where Mical Crawley can be seen.

“Natalie Harp posting a photo that has the First Lady airbrushed out so it looks like she's the First Lady,” political writer Nick Field wrote on X.

“There is a lot of AI slop going on in this photo. more than i noticed when i posted it,” journalist Aron Rupar wrote.

“This is weird as f***,” singer Bill Madden wrote. "Never mind Trump channeling Dr. Strangelove by having only a glove on his right hand — instead of protocol chief Monica Crowley standing in the background, the serial lying sociopath posted AI slop with Natalie Harp's face superimposed over hers. Trump is also using notorious Nazi font for “Only Trump.”

“Donald Trump just posted this AI photo on Truth Social this morning. Look closely! There’s Natalie Harp behind him!” added one.

On Thursday, Xi and Trump are expected to conduct bilateral meetings with Chinese officials. Xi and Trump delivered remarks at the White House Thursday morning as they kicked off bilateral talks. Xi Jinping announced that China will send two pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, to the Atlanta Zoo as an "envoy of friendship." Fu Shuang means "double blessing" and Ping Ping means "peace peace."

Following the address, Xi Jinping visited the Oval Office. The welcome by Trump involved a flyover and a performance by the US Marine Corps band. A 5-minute military review was also held at the Rose Garden of the White House.

The bilateral meetings will be followed by a state dinner later on Thursday evening.

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