An image authentically shows U.S. President Donald Trump leaving a brown stain on a chair during his trip to Ireland in September 2026.
In September 2026, social media users widely circulated an image purportedly capturing U.S. President Donald Trump leaving a noticeable brown mark on a chair while visiting Ireland.
One prominent X post (archived) featuring the supposed photograph accumulated approximately 4 million views.
(@StillADog via X)
The controversy unfolded during Trump’s official visit to the country over the weekend of Sept. 12–13, where he met with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. The U.S. leader drew immediate attention following their discussions by advocating for Irish unification—a proposal to merge Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. Alongside this meeting, Trump sat down with Irish President Catherine Connolly and participated in the Irish Open hosted at his golf resort in Doonbeg.
As the visual of the alleged stain spread rapidly across Bluesky, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube, numerous individuals reached out to verify its legitimacy.
While some Threads users jokingly or sincerely argued that artificial intelligence played no part in producing the graphic, the online community remained visibly divided over whether the event actually transpired.
(@becca_reptile_and_human_momma via Threads)
Ultimately, the viral image is entirely fictitious and stems from an AI-generated video. The digital creation originated from an altered prompt built upon a real, unedited photograph that contained no such stain.
Digital creator Tom Adelsbach initially published the synthetic footage across Facebook, Instagram, and X on Sept. 12. Accompanying the posts were sensationalized captions stating, “BREAKING: Donald Trump causes an international incident during his meeting with Ireland President Catherine Connolly.”
The 22-second AI-generated video depicts a simulated version of Trump seated beside Connolly. The digital likeness of the U.S. president sighs, stands up, and shakes Connolly’s hand amid the ambient sound of flashing cameras. As the video progresses, the avatar walks away to the left, exposing a growing brown mark on the furniture that eventually drips onto the floor, prompting a distressed reaction from the AI-rendered Irish president.
Although Adelsbach has previously appended satirical or comedic disclaimers to similar projects, the chair-stain uploads lacked a comparable written warning, though Meta’s automated “AI content” label was successfully applied on Facebook and Instagram platforms.
The Source Material
A reverse image search points back to an authentic photograph published by the Northern Irish newspaper Belfast Telegraph, which served as the foundation for the AI video. Credited to photographer Tony Maxwell, the genuine picture depicts Trump and Connolly inside Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the Irish president.
Official social media channels belonging to President Connolly also feature legitimate imagery from the same gathering.