A photo of US President Donald Trump yelling at US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth through a glass door went viral on social media. The image surfaced amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict after the US and Israel struck Iran early on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to exact revenge for the deaths of three US servicemen and has threatened to keep attacking Iran until all of Washington’s goals are met.
A day after the combined operation with Israel that killed up to 40 senior officials and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the US military claims to have hit over 1,000 sites inside Iran.
The image created misconceptions on the internet. Many users thought it depicted an actual argument at a government meeting.
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What does the image show?
The viral image in question has been widely reposted with captions suggesting that Trump was caught “red-faced yelling” at Hegseth over military planning or leaked intelligence.
A user going by the handle Quadcarl shared it with a humorous message that asked, “Why is Trump yelling at Pete Hegseth?” and then included a funny response about Mar-a-Lago’s minibar drinks.
However, there is no credible evidence from mainstream news organisations or official statements to substantiate that such a moment actually occurred.
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The image is AI-generated as per Grok
Some X users questioned the image’s authenticity and asked Grok to verify it.
Users were informed by Grok that the picture did not correspond with any actual incident. It stated that similar situations from earlier or altered photos had previously been shared. Grok also confirmed that no credible sources claimed that Trump yelled at Hegseth.
Moreover, it stated that Trump had recently commended Hegseth for providing a briefing on US policy in Iran.
Grok clarified that it was a satirical image generated by AI. Grok also pointed out that inconsistencies in the lighting, background, and general composition of the image are frequently linked to manipulated or artificial intelligence-generated content.