The official Christmas portrait of Donald Trump and Melania Trump was released today—and it didn’t take long for critics to spot what they believe may be a questionable Photoshop edit.

As is tradition, the White House publishes an annual holiday photograph featuring the President and First Lady surrounded by festive décor. In the 2025 image, released on December 23, the 79-year-old Trump and Melania, 55, are shown holding hands in the entrance hall of the presidential residence.

Behind the couple—married since 2005 and parents to 19-year-old Barron—hangs the presidential seal, flanked by two large flags: the American flag and another featuring a prominent eagle. Several elaborately decorated Christmas trees complete the scene.

This year’s decorations were overseen by Melania Trump, who reportedly transformed the White House with 75 wreaths, 51 Christmas trees, more than 213 meters of garland, over 2,000 strands of lights, thousands of ribbons, gold stars, butterflies, and even 54 kilograms of gingerbread.

However, it wasn’t the scale of the decorations that caught public attention—it was Donald Trump’s right hand.

Some viewers zooming in on the portrait claimed the image may not be as recent as suggested. Online sleuths noted that the photo appears to have been taken weeks earlier, possibly on December 11, when the Trumps attended the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Kennedy Center Honors.

At that event, Trump was seen wearing a bandage on the back of his right hand—a detail observers have noticed on several past occasions, sometimes accompanied by visible bruising or makeup used to conceal the area.

In the newly released Christmas portrait, however, the bandage is nowhere to be seen.

This sparked speculation that the image had been digitally altered. One user on X pointed out that Melania appears to be wearing the same Givenchy gown she wore to the Kennedy Center event, suggesting the holiday photo may have been reused and retouched.

Others were less subtle in their criticism, questioning how such an edit could be overlooked and accusing the White House of “holiday photoshopping,” specifically alleging that the bandage had been digitally removed.

While no official explanation has been given, the debate has added an unexpected twist to what is usually a straightforward festive tradition.