Unpacking claim photo shows US flag touching the ground at White House
US President Donald Trump returned to the White House on November 16, 2025, after spending a weekend at his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago. As usual, a press photographer was on scene to take photos. they left viral social media not long after it was published online.
This is because there is a US flag in the background. It turned out to be on the groundthis constitutes a breach of contract US flag code. This code is for the flag “Never touch anything underneath, such as ground, ground, water, or merchandise.”
After seeing the photos, several Snopes readers asked us if they were real. Them. However, the photos were taken at an angle that did not allow us to confirm whether the flag touched the ground. We’ve reached out to both the White House and the photographer who took the photo for more information. We ignored the accuracy of this claim until we learned more.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the claim that the flag touched the ground was ““fake news,” he said in an email statement to Snopes. “Due to high winds in the Washington DC area on Sunday evening, the flag was very carefully lowered into a special container during Marine One’s landing,” he said.
This statement still contradicts flag codeBecause the “special container” would still be under the flag.
Official press photos are usually posted on the stock photo site Getty Images. looking for Last photos of Trump in the White House quickly revealed that the snapshots were legitimate images. photographer Mandel Ngan. some posts social media provided a potential alternate angle, but Snopes was unable to verify whether this footage was legitimate. Regardless, both images (and video footage) depicted the flag in a position touching the ground. The photos showed a box-shaped container of some kind next to the flag.
The flag in the photo is attached to one of two flagpoles Trump was established After taking office again in January 2025.
Sources:
4 USC Ch. 1: FLAG. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title4/chapter1&edition=prelim. Access date: 17 November 2025.
“Donald Trump Walks Past American Flag Appearing to Touch the Ground in Viral White House Photos.” Yahoo News, 17 November 2025, https://ca.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-walks-past-american-180553879.html.
Roche, Calum. “Why Is the American Flag Lying on the Floor in the White House? Trump’s Image Raises Questions.” AS USA, 17 November 2025, https://en.as.com/latest_news/why-is-the-american-flag-lying-on-the-ground-at-the-white-house-image-of-trump-raises-questions-f202511-n/.
Stopper, Matt. “This photo of Donald Trump and the American Flag is going viral for obvious reasons.” BuzzFeed, 17 November 2025, https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/trump-flag-photo.
“Trump Rebuilds the White House with New Flagpoles.” AP News, 18 June 2025, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-flagpoles-a0928efcdcb6d1362a0e1827e96d0344.
“U.S. Flag on Floor at White House Raises Questions.” Newsweek, 17 November 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/american-flag-floor-white-house-donald-trump-11057234.
