Image of ‘Trump’s angry reaction to S. Korean ex-president’s detention’ is doctored
A doctored image has been repeatedly shared in social media posts claiming it shows US President Donald Trump reacting angrily to news of former South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention. The image combines a photo of Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung viewing news coverage of their meeting on August 25 and an unrelated thumbnail of a YouTube video about Yoon’s arrest in January.
“This is a photo recently released by the White House; President Trump is said to have expressed anger after having belatedly learned of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention,” reads a Korean-language Naver Band post shared on September 1, 2025.
“You can see the anger in his hand gesture,” it adds.
The image appears to show Trump gesturing towards TV news coverage of Yoon’s detention.
South Korea’s impeached former president remains under detention in Seoul and has refused to appear at his summons for questioning and court hearings on multiple charges, including insurrection stemming from his declaration of martial law in December 2024 (archived link).
According to the Yonhap news agency, South Korean lawmakers reviewed surveillance footage of Yoon resisting a special counsel’s detention order on September 1 (archived link).
Screenshot of the false Naver Band post captured on September 1, with a red X added by AFP
The same image was also shared by right-wing groups in identical Naver Band, Facebook and X posts.
“Who wouldn’t be angry at these people who deserve punishment? If President Trump doesn’t come to [Yoon’s] aid, there is no other hope,” read a comment on one of the posts.
Another said: “[Trump] seems to be asking if there is any valid reason for President Yoon to be humiliated like this.”
The image, however, has been altered.
A keyword search on Google led to the original photo posted on the White House’s official Flickr account on August 27, and shows Trump and Lee watching a Fox News broadcast about their summit two days earlier (archived link).
It is part of a photoset showing the two leaders at the White House, where they discussed a variety of bilateral issues such as their countries’ alliance, trade, North Korea and Seoul’s recent political upheavals (archived link).
The falsely shared image crops out Lee, who was standing to Trump’s right, and replaces the TV news coverage of their Oval Office meeting.
Screenshot comparison of the doctored image (left) and the photo posted on the White House’s official Flickr account (right)
The original photo was also widely published by multiple South Korean media outlets, including News1, JoongAng Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun (archived here, here and here).
A reverse image search on Google found the image superimposed over the TV screen in the false posts matches the thumbnail of a video on the verified LiveNow from Fox YouTube channel (archived link).
The video is about Yoon’s first arrest in January, weeks after his suspension by the National Assembly over his failed martial law bid (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the image in the false posts (left) and the thumbnail from a LiveNow from Fox video posted in January (right)
AFP has previously debunked similar false claims about Trump supposedly watching news about South Korean politics.
