Just as Donald Trump was being handed a $355 million fine in a New York courtroom at the culmination of his civil fraud case, the famously thin-skinned former President was posting to his Truth Social about pictures that made him look fat.
‘The Fake News used Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to create the picture. These are despicable people, but everyone knows that,’ Trump railed.
‘The other pictures are me hitting Golf balls today to show the difference. Sadly, in our Country, Fake News is all you get!’
The posting, which showed one photo of Trump with a pot belly was accompanied by a further three showing a slimmed down Donald, and came at the exact same time the judge in his New York case, Justice Arthur F. Engoron, was making his ruling.
Further investigation reveals however the image is not AI at all, but a photoshopped image of 57-year-old golfing cult hero and longtime Trump supporter, John Daly, in an image taken in 2017.
Just as Donald Trump was being handed a $355 million fine in a New York courtroom on Friday the former President was posting to his Truth Social about pictures that made him look fat
Trump claimed this image was generated by AI and that it depicted him as being fat
The real photo is actually that of two-time major winner, and Trump supporter, John Daly
The former president spent a significant amount of time on the golf course during his time in office and continues to do so, but the image posted on Friday afternoon was created digitally by superimposing a photo of Trump’s head on to a real image of Daly’s.
The remaining three pictures on the posting showed a more svelte figure as Trump hit the links on one of his Florida golf courses.
Daly, a two-time major champion has been a fan of Trump so some time with the pair having played golf together several times.
The pair also have a shared love of McDonald’s and Diet Coke.
The golfer vowed in 2020 to cut back on Diet Coke and cigarettes after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. Two years later, he revealed the cancer was benign.
Trump then posted a series of three photos of him playing on his Florida golf course
One photograph showed Trump looking particularly svelte as he hit the links
The pictures were part of a trio of images posted by Trump showing a slimmed down Donald
That is not to say that there aren’t many doctored photos online such as this bad rendition
Trump playing at his Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in a recent photo
Trump has been pictured at his golf courses over a number of years from various angles
Trump is seen at the Trump International golf course West Palm Beach Florida in 2022
Daly told sports journalist Graham Bensinger in an interview in 2016 that he just hates drinking water and loves the taste of coke better.
‘I used to drink anywhere from 12 to 20 diet cokes a day,’ Daly told Bensinger. ‘I used to go to McDonald’s three to four times a day. To me, they always had the best fountain diet coke.
Last year, Daly strongly supported Trump as he boldly claimed the former president needs to return to the White House next year for the sake of the United States.
Daly, a former PGA Tour stalwart who now primarily plays on the senior tour, has known the former president for over three decades, even describing him as a ‘great friend’ in a 2017 Instagram post.
And with the 2024 Presidential election nine months away, Daly claimed he and his fellow professionals are backing Trump to return to the White House.
‘Think all of us on the tours want Daddy Trump back,’ he told Tucker Carlson in a sit-down interview last December.
The two-time major winner has known Trump since the 1990s and has played golf with him
Daly is pictured with his family and ‘great friend’ Trump in the Oval Office in 2017
The 1995 champion wore stars and stripes shorts and a sweater carrying Donald Trump’s name during the British Open in July 2023
Daly has also brought attention on the course with his pants, which featured dozens of skeletons, seen here during the first round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma in May 2022
Trump has most recently been a prominent figure at LIV Golf tournaments, where he has been warmly welcomed by the likes of Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau.
When asked whether he believed Trump could this year’s election, Daly revealed he was praying for him to be triumphant.
‘He needs to win, I pray to God he wins,’ he insisted. ‘Just for the satisfaction of bringing our country back together and get common sense going in here again.
‘Look what he did, how great was our country for the four years he was in office? Now look at it. No secure borders. I mean what the hell happened? Where did it go? I was loving the four years Daddy Trump was in. And it’s all gone to hell in two to three years.’
The two-time major winner went on to not only praise Trump, who he described as an ‘unbelievable, smart individual’ but also the entire former First Family.
Daly is pictured with a Diet Coke in hand during practice for the 1999 US Open
John Daly is seen during a practice round at The Open at the Royal Liverpool, Wirral in 2023
He then boldly, and bizarrely, claimed that some of the biggest international conflicts in recent years would have been avoided if the 45th President had secured a second term back in November 2020, referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and most recently the ongoing Israel-Hamas war this year.
‘I’ll have his back till I die,’ Daly said. ‘He’s one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met. The family is awesome. Once you get to know them, they’re just good-hearted people. He only wants to help Americans and protect our country.
‘I think Putin never would’ve invaded Ukraine and I don’t Hamas would’ve attacked Israel like they did if Trump was in office.’
Daly, who won five times on the PGA Tour, revealed that Trump had predicted his own presidency back in the 1990s during a conversation with the professional golfer at a pro-am.
‘We played a pro-am, we went out back and talked a bit and when he stood up, he says, “Mark my word, I’ll be President of the United States one day.” This was back in ’92, ’93, ’94 maybe,’ Daly claimed to a stunned Carlson, adding that he believed the then-real businessman.
