How The Times Assessed That Photo From Trump of Maduro in Handcuffs
The New York Times••nation
Key Points:
- President Trump announced on social media the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and posted an image purportedly showing Maduro detained on a U.S. warship, which raised questions about its authenticity.
- The image Trump shared appeared to be AI-generated, prompting a team of photo editors to carefully assess its credibility before deciding on publication.
- Photo editors across Seoul, London, and New York had been coordinating coverage of the Venezuela story, including deploying photographers and monitoring reactions, but were unprepared for the sudden spread of various unverified images of Maduro.
- Prior to Trump's post, editors had already encountered other unverified images circulating online showing Maduro detained, which were sourced from social media and a New York Times reporter's contacts.
- The
