Claim: An image shows US President Donald Trump bowing down to Chinese President Xi Jinping while greeting each other at the US-China Summit this month.
Fact: This claim is false. The viral image is AI-generated.
On 23 May 2026, local news website The Pakistan Frontier posted an image on its Instagram page showing US President Donald Trump bowing down to the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Post by Pakistan Frontier on Instagram
US-China Summit 2026
US President Donald Trump made a two day state visit to China on 14 and 15 May 2026 including formal meetings in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping, alongside senior officials from both governments.
The discussions reportedly focused on several key areas of strategic importance, including US and China trade relations, tariff disputes, technology competition, business and regional security concerns such as Taiwan. Both countries said they wanted to stabilise bilateral relations. As the power dynamics have shifted since the US-Iran war started, causing damage to China’s economy,and the US wanting China to open its economy to American firms.
Since the Beijing summit, agreements expanded to agricultural trade, increased Chinese purchases of US goods, and strengthened investment cooperation. Between these tangible results, there was no extension of the tariff truce negotiated in October 2025. This still remains in talks, as both try to avoid the tariff war.
While the meetings were described by both governments as constructive and “successful,.” only a few deals were confirmed. The visit was broadly framed as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to stabilise relations between the two countries.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a keyword search for official images of this alleged diplomatic exchange. The results yielded verified photos which show both leaders shaking hands at the Great Hall of the People. There is no sign of the President bowing down to the Chinese leader, as seen below:
Sky News coverage from 14 May 2026 of the 14 second handshake
Soch Fact Check took a screenshot from Sky News’s coverage of the moment Trump and Xi shook hands at the Great Hall of the People on 14 May 2026. When seeing the full event, and this diplomatic greeting, no proof was found of US President Donald Trump bowing to Chinese President Xi Jinping at any point.
Furthermore, a comparison between social media posts and the authentic livestream of the instance by the White House portrays that the image in the claim has been altered. For example, in the image of Trump bowing down there is no indication of President Xi Jinping looking down at the US President while he bows down. He looks straight ahead, as in the original footage while he shakes Trump’s hand.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping looking straight ahead as US President bows
Chinese President Xi Jinping same expression in an original and authentic video as he greets US leader
Another sign of alteration is that the Chinese President’s hand does not have any fingers. His hand does not appear to have any clear structure nor do his fingers have any definition when the image is enlarged; only the US President’s hand is visible. This is not the case in the original footage.
Close up image of the handshake from the Instagram post
Close-up image from The White House footage
To conclude the image has been altered it was tested by Decopy AI scanner where different variables are mentioned for example hand interaction, clothing detail, background detail and posture and proportions. All these were considered by the scanner which gives the result of a 75% probability of AI-generation.
However, specifically the handshake’s analysis has a similarity to what Soch Fact Check stated that it was blurred, lack of clear detail and skin texture. Moreover, it suggests a new point of view about the appearance of clothing details that lack an intricate fabric texture. Which can be the case on closer inspection on Trump’s side if it has been manipulated.
Analysis provided by Decopy AI
Based on official outlets’ coverage, human analysis of the authenticity to the manipulated image and an AI scanner. Soch Fact Check concludes that the US President did not bow down to the Chinese President at any point during the greeting at the Great Hall of the People on 14 May 2026. The image in the claim appears to be altered.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the image was shared widely on Instagram and X. It was reshared quite vigorously due to the nature of the state visit made by the US President, to make relations better with the Chinese government, while Americans and South American users made mockery of the situation gaining the altered image more interaction.
In terms of engagement, there were no less than 6k likes on Facebook posts, while X and Instagram posts were getting as little as 4 likes. There is no reason determined, yet as to why some social media platforms can be doing better than others, however it can be assumed the US President is subjected to a lot of trolling, hence any news regarding him gets attention.
Conclusion: Soch Fact Check concludes the image is AI-generated, and Trump did not bow to Xi Jinping during their greeting at the Great Hall of the People on 14 May 2026.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com