Does a real photo show President Donald Trump bowing to Chinese President Xi Jinping as they shake hands at the start of the Trump-Xi Summit in Beijing? No, that's not true: The image shows a common sign of AI generation -- unnaturally blended fingers. There are also no credible news reports documenting such a scene actually happening.
The claim appeared in a post and image (archived here) by the @SprinterPress account on X on May 15, 2026. It read:
A good photographer is worth his weight in gold
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @SprinterPress on X.)
This fake photo is designed to look like a screenshot from CCTV (China Central Television), the state-run broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. The Chinese characters in the red square in the upper left, "央视时政," translate to (archived here): "CCTV Political Affairs." The characters in the blue square in the upper left, "央视新闻," translate to (archived here): "CCTV News." The characters in the upper right, "直播," translate to (archived here): "Live streaming."
Lead Stories searched Google News (archived here) and Yahoo! News (archived here) for the words: "Trump bows to Xi as they shake hands." Neither search found matching reports. Had this actually happened, major news outlets would likely have widely reported it.
The handshake between the two men lasted about 15 seconds and was broadcast live around the world. At no time during the handshake did Trump bow to Xi. The clip (archived here) is embedded below:
Signs of AI generation
A close examination of the hands during the handshake reveals fingers that appear unnaturally blended and warped -- a telltale sign of AI-generated images. In the image below, the handshake is circled in red. Xi's fingers are almost indistinguishable from one another, while Trump's are more visible but also distorted.
(Image source: post by @SprinterPress on X.)
