President Donald Trump was pulled back into an unexpected firestorm on Thursday after a distorted portrait began circulating online and instantly set off a wave of speculation about its uncanny resemblance to him. The strange, exaggerated image triggered a rush of reactions across social platforms, with many suggesting it pointed to a deeper controversy Trump has been trying to distance himself from.
The frenzy didn’t stem from this week’s new Oversight Committee materials but from an older photo that resurfaced in the chaos, creating a swirl of confusion and renewed scrutiny as social media pushed the image back into the spotlight.
Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko sparked the moment when he shared the now-viral fireplace image, complete with gold accents, matching mirrors and a warped portrait above the mantle in convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s home on a private island in the Caribbean.
He captioned it, “After seeing the photo of Jeffrey Epstein’s living room just released it now makes sense what Donald Trump is doing to the Oval Office.”
The post took off instantly, even though the image wasn’t from this week at all. It originated from a batch the New York Times published back in August.
What viewers seized on was the distorted painting itself. The exaggerated shape and facial cues in the warped artwork prompted a wave of comments comparing it to Trump.
“Epstein even has Trump’ picture over the mantle,” this Threads user noted.
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“The fact the Epstein has a portrait of Trump in his home should be a bigger scandal,” social media poster Ruben Carbajal suggested.
Another joked, “Is that hideous picture above the gilded fireplace a portrait of the Donald?!?”
Another user also noticed, “Isn’t that a portrait of DJT above the fireplace?”
The resurfaced fireplace photo also pulled renewed attention back to the earlier Times release, which documented the bizarre and unsettling décor inside Epstein’s sprawling seven-story Manhattan townhouse.
The mansion included a sculpture of a bride clinging to a rope above the staircase, a stuffed tiger, dozens of prosthetic eyeballs lining the entryway walls, and a first edition of “Lolita,” the novel about an older man’s obsession with a 12-year-old girl.
“This place looked creepy as f**k and that’s not even because we know what went on there,” one user observed.
The mix-up gained even more traction because House Democrats on the Oversight Committee had, in fact, released new Epstein-related photos and video this week. Their disclosure included walkthrough footage of interior rooms, shots of bedrooms and common areas left untouched since the investigation, and close-ups of strange personal objects recovered inside.
The batch also featured unsettling items from Epstein’s private island, including a medical-style chair in a small room, a wall of theatrical masks, and a chalkboard filled with cryptic words like “power,” “plots,” and “deception.” The release instantly reignited scrutiny of Epstein’s network — and created the perfect conditions for older images to be swept back into the conversation and mistaken for new revelations.
And the August Times release actual did include a photo of Epstein posing with Trump, Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell years before Trump entered the White House, a reminder of their once-close social ties and a detail resurfacing at a moment when scrutiny of Trump’s past relationship with Epstein is intensifying. Maxwell was cropped out of the photo.
Meanwhile, the ongoing fallout surrounding the Epstein files has only heightened interest in every image linked to the convicted sex trafficker. The New York Times recently reported that a Florida judge ordered the release of grand jury testimony relating to the first Epstein investigation in 2005.
Epstein ultimately pleaded guilty to state charges, received a shockingly lenient sentence, and soon returned to trafficking teenage girls until his arrest on federal charges during Trump’s first term. Authorities say he died by suicide in 2019, though many have never believed that.
Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, campaigned for years on releasing the Epstein files. But after winning a second term, Trump’s administration refused to make the documents public, prompting Congress to pass a law last month requiring the full release of investigative materials by December 19. Rumors are already circulating that the Justice Department is in the process of issuing heavy redactions.
The names of many powerful individuals — including Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew — have appeared in court filings over the years outlining Epstein’s decades-long abuse operation. And now, thanks to a mistaken repost and a distorted portrait above a gold-plated fireplace, Trump once again finds himself pulled directly back into a scandal his team has been working hard to outrun.
