An unclear, blurred picture that social media users claim shows European leaders sitting on chairs with bowed heads in a White House corridor, waiting to meet US President Donald Trump, has gone viral online.

Several European leaders travelled to the US to meet Trump on Monday, 18 August. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was flanked by seven European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, among others.

The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, joined by European leaders, comes following Trump’s talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last Friday. The coalition of European leaders joined Zelenskyy at the White House to shore up his position and to help push for continued support for Ukraine.

Following the meeting with European leaders at the White House on Monday, this image claiming to feature these top political leaders surfaced and was later widely shared online.

It was shared alongside captions alleging the leaders were being left to wait for Trump, asserting they were submissive to the US president.

One social media account said it was a humiliation, calling the leaders “vassals at the court of the Mad Emperor”. Another compared them to schoolchildren being lined up outside the principal’s office, a scenario in which Trump is presumed to be the headmaster.

The image was also shared by an established pro-Russian account with the caption “the picture of the day”.

However, the image is false.

Mangled hands and extra feet

This was confirmed by several Artificial Intelligence (AI) detection tools through which Euroverify checked the image. At least three tools stated the image was most likely generated by AI.

A reverse image search by Euroverify produced a higher-quality version of the image. It shows a person sitting at the front of the row who vaguely looks like French President Emmanuel Macron.

The image first surfaced before the meeting even took place. X/Euronews

When looking more closely at this image, it clearly contains discrepancies typical of AI-generated images. The fingers of his left hand are mangled and out of proportion.

Additionally, between the figure at the front and the blonde woman next to him, a pair of feet can be spotted without another person sitting in this spot.

Meanwhile, online posts claim the people sitting to his left are other European leaders present at the meeting, but none of the other figures in the picture look like those attending the Washington, DC talks.

The image also did not appear on the websites of any reputable news organisations covering the meeting. Finally, the picture was already shared on Sunday, 17 August, one day ahead of the meeting taking place.

Some social media users have picked up on the fact that the photo is AI-generated by making fun of the obvious discrepancies commonly linked to such imagery. Meanwhile, others explained why it is fake in community notes on X.

Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, a working body of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, also shared the photo, stating it was false.

“A fake photo is spreading online, allegedly showing European leaders who came to meet with US President Donald Trump sitting in a row waiting near the Oval Office,” its post read.

“In reality, this photo was created using artificial intelligence and is being spread by russian propaganda to discredit European leaders and devalue the significance of their participation in the negotiation process,” it added.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, its spreading of disinformation has risen dramatically. Various examples of Russian fabrications as part of this tactic include bad photo editing, but also fake reports and websites pretending to be Western media outlets.

Karol Nawrocki’s first visit as President of Poland will to be the United States, where he will meet with Donald Trump. The head of the President’s Cabinet, Pawel Szefernaker, announced Nawrocki’s meeting with Trump on X on Saturday.

“In an official congratulatory letter delivered on the day of his swearing-in, US President Donald Trump invited Polish President Karol Nawrocki to the White House for an official working meeting on 3 September 2025,” wrote Szefernaker.

The meeting is expected to focus on bilateral relations, security cooperation and NATO, as Warsaw aims to strengthen its strategic partnership with Washington.

Relations with the United States, including the Polish diaspora, the Trump administration, NATO and Trump himself, were one of the key themes in the Polish presidential campaign, which concluded with the second round of elections in June. With the ongoing war in Ukraine and security issues along the border with Belarus, both candidates in the race ran their campaign on the premise that they would be the ones to ensure the best possible transatlantic cooperation.

During a parade marking the 3rd of May, the anniversary of the Polish Constitution, Nawrocki met with the Polish community in Chicago to celebrate the holiday and express his support for the close ties between the two countries.

The previous day, Nawrocki was received in the Oval Office by US President Donald Trump, after attending an event to mark the National Day of Prayer.

During a presidential debate in April, Nawrocki conveyed that his priority was to go to Washington “to sort out our international relations and do what Donald Tusk’s government is not doing”.

A US delegation led by Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration, was present at Nawrocki’s presidential inauguration. Loeffler highlighted the US commitment to its alliance with Poland, emphasising the development of economic cooperation and common security goals.

Marcin Przydacz from the president’s office said that Nawrocki received a sculpture of an eagle from the US delegation – a symbolic expression of the close relations between the two countries.

Can the US be a guarantor of lasting peace for Poland?

Many conservative politicians in Poland welcomed Trump’s policy, even despite the US president’s clashes with Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenski.

“Without the Americans, it is difficult to imagine a lasting peace, and yet we all strive for it,” Morawiecki said in an interview with Euronews in March. He added that “without American support we in Europe would not have been able to maintain peace for decades”.

Current Polish President Andrzej Duda expressed similar sentiments. “Today my conclusion is absolutely unequivocal, there is no one but the United States who can stop Putin,” Duda said in an interview with Euronews .

“That is why I believe that President Donald Trump, through his determination, can end this war,” he added.

Duda was the first international leader to visit Donald Trump at the White House after his inauguration in January.

Poles have ambiguous opinions on the US

Most Poles recognise the military might of the US, leading many to appreciate the strategic relationship between the two countries. A survey conducted in March for the Polish weekly magazine Polityka found that 85% of respondents recognized the US as a powerful military presence globally.

At the same time, the percentage of Poles who say the US has a positive impact on the world is falling. In a survey conducted by state research institution CBOS in April 2025, only 20% of respondents said the US had a positive influence on international politics, the lowest recorded result since the agency began measuring this opinion in 2006.

Data from the same survey also shows that only 31% of Poles would rate Polish-US relations as “good” – this is the lowest score since the fall of communism.

“Model NATO ally”

Key figures from the Trump administration have praised Poland’s policies, including the country’s commitment to security spending and migration policy.

In February, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth described Poland as a “model NATO ally” after a meeting with his Polish counterpart Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.

Pete Hegseth and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

In turn, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed similar sentiments in a statement. “Poland and the United States stand together as partners in building a safer and more prosperous future for our peoples,” he wrote. “We look forward to further strengthening our cooperation on energy security.”

“Our shared future has never looked brighter,” Rubio added.

Multiple European leaders, as well as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have responded to US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcement with disappointment and criticism, while urging for a negotiated solution.

On Saturday, Trump posted a new set of letters to his social media platform Truth Social, declaring 30% tariffs on the EU and Mexico starting 1 August, a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and two of its biggest trade partners.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen quickly responded by noting the bloc’s “commitment to dialogue, stability, and a constructive transatlantic partnership.”

On Sunday, she emphasised that reaching a negotiated solution remains the priority, but that the EU is ready to respond with countermeasures.

“We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till the 1st of August,” she said during a press conference. “We’ve prepared for this, and we can respond with countermeasures if necessary.”

Von der Leyen also said that the the EU will suspend retaliatory tariffs on US goods scheduled to take effect Monday in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month.

Standing alongside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, von der Leyen said the trade tensions with the US show the importance of ‘’diversifying our trade relationships.”

European Council President Antonio Costa expressed support for Von der Leyen in a post on X, saying The EU remains firm, united and ready to protect our interests, in full support of President Von der Leyen and the Commission’s efforts to reach a fair agreement with the US.”

Trade ministers from EU countries are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss trade relations with the US, as well as with China.

Criticism from European leaders

European leaders joined von der Leyen in urging Trump to give negotiations more time and warnings of possible new tariffs on Washington.

“With European unity, it is more than ever up to the Commission to assert the Union’s determination to resolutely defend European interests,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement posted on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said “it would make no sense to trigger a trade war between the two sides of the Atlantic.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told broadcaster DR that Trump was taking a “pointless and a very shortsighted approach.” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson warned in an interview with the country’s public broadcaster SVT that “everyone loses out from an escalated trade conflict, and it will be US consumers who pay the highest price.”

Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof wrote on X that the announcement “is concerning and not the way forward.”

Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin said on Saturday that the tariffs represent a “setback”, adding that levies are “not sustainable and tenable”. During his remarks, Martin also mentioned that the European Union has countermeasures on the table, but “it doesn’t want to have to deploy and would prefer a negotiated approach”.

Trump, as he has in previous letters, warned that his administration would further raise tariffs if the EU attempts to hike its own tariffs on the United States.

‘Unfair treatment’

The Mexican government said it was informed during high-level talks with US State Department officials Friday that the Trump letter was coming. The delegation told Trump officials at the meeting it disagreed with the decision and considered it “unfair treatment,” according to a Mexican government statement.

Sheinbaum, who has sought to avoid directly criticising Trump in the early going of her presidency, expressed a measure of confidence during a public appearance on Saturday that the US and Mexico will reach “better terms.”

“I’ve always said that in these cases, you need a cool head to face any problem,” Sheinbaum said.