The Getty Images image-licensing website credited the authentic picture to photojournalist Chip Somodevilla. Somodevilla captured the photo at a Wisconsin airport on Oct. 30, 2024. Getty Images' editorial standards documentation includes a principle for integrity: "Images need to be delivered to the customer with accuracy, transparency and free of manipulation and bias."
Less than one week before Election Day in 2024, social media users circulated a purportedly authentic photo showing former U.S. President Donald Trump wearing an orange vest — and what appeared to be either heavy orange makeup or self-tanner lotion — while standing and gesturing on an airport tarmac with his mouth open. bucket wear protection
For example, a user on the r/pics subreddit on Reddit posted the photo with the caption (archived), "Unedited photo of Donald Trump campaigning as a garbage man." As of this writing, the post had more than 76,000 points — a high mark for Reddit's upvote and downvote system that allows users to boost or drop various content.
Former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also shared the picture (archived), adding, "Wouldn't it be great to not have to think about this man ever again? Five more days." Her post urged people to vote in the election with a link to the Democratic National Committee-run website IWillVote.com.
Other users and articles featured the picture, including on the 4chan forums, Drudge Report homepage (with a "Trick or Treat?" caption), Facebook, Reddit, Rolling Stone, Threads, X and other websites. One user on Threads compared Trump's appearance and gesturing to that of actor Alec Baldwin's portrayal of the former president on "Saturday Night Live," saying, "This really wasn't that far off."
In our research, we quickly concluded that, yes, the photo of Trump was genuine. As some users noted, the picture appeared on the Getty Images image-licensing website with a credit to photojournalist Chip Somodevilla. Somodevilla also posted the photo as part of a slideshow on his Instagram account. As such, we rated the claim that the picture authentically showed Trump as true.
The official Getty Images picture caption said Somodevilla took the photo at the Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport in Wisconsin on Oct. 30:
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 30: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump speaks to the media at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport on October 30, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. With less than a week until Election Day, Trump is campaigning for re-election in the battleground states of North Carolina and Wisconsin. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Getty Images website hosts a page documenting the publisher's editorial standards. One of the principles included with the policies mentions integrity, specifically clarifying that Getty Images' aim is to deliver content "free of manipulation and bias." The documentation reads, "Images need to be delivered to the customer with accuracy, transparency and free of manipulation and bias."
Snopes contacted Getty Images by email to clarify whether or not the photo received any alterations whatsoever. We did not receive a response within several hours.
Moments after Somodevilla photographed Trump wearing his orange vest, the former president climbed into the passenger side of a garbage truck to go for a ride. The vest and truck were part of an effort to draw attention to a remark made by President Joe Biden, in which he has been accused of calling Trump's supporters "garbage."
The Associated Press reported of the matter on Oct. 30:
Donald Trump walked down the steps of the Boeing 757 that bears his name, walked across a rain-soaked tarmac and, after twice missing the handle, climbed into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck that also carried his name.
The former president, once a reality TV star known for his showmanship, wanted to draw attention to a remark made a day earlier by his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, that suggested Trump's supporters were garbage. Trump has used the remark as a cudgel against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
"How do you like my garbage truck?" Trump said, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white dress shirt and red tie. "This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden."
Snopes previously reported the full story of the controversy surrounding Biden's "garbage" remark, including the fact that the entire ordeal hinged on a possessive apostrophe for the word "supporter's," as in "[Trump's] supporter's" — as opposed to "supporters."
For context regarding the orange appearance of Trump's face in the photo, we turned to a Dec. 4, 2019, article from The Washington Post. The story featured an anecdote about Trump reportedly using "Bronx Colors-brand face makeup":
Trump loved Tic Tacs. But not an arbitrary amount. He wanted, in his bedroom bureau at all times, two full containers of white Tic Tacs and one container that was half full. The same rule applied to the Bronx Colors-brand face makeup from Switzerland that Trump slathered on — two full containers, one half full — even if it meant the housekeepers had to regularly bring new shirts from the pro shop because of the rust-colored stains on the collars. A special washing machine in the laundry room was reserved for his wife Melania Trump's clothing.
Two days after the Post's story published, Vox.com also reported about Trump's appearance with an article headlined, "Could this be Trump's orange makeup?"
For further reading, we previously reported on a similar matter involving users discussing the authenticity of a photo purportedly showing Trump's face covered with what appeared to be sweat and heavy orange makeup, or self-tanner lotion.
Getty Images Editorial Standards. https://www.gettyimages.com/company/editorial-policy.
Licon, Adriana Gomez, and Jonathan J. Cooper. "Donald Trump Boards a Garbage Truck to Draw Attention to Biden Remark." The Associated Press, 30 Oct. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-garbage-truck-wisconsin-1b9b2882b59639ba0dc898b0b45e395b.
Partlow, Joshua, and David A. Fahrenthold. "How Two Housekeepers Took on the President — and Revealed That His Company Employed Undocumented Immigrants." The Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-two-undocumented-housekeepers-took-on-the-president--and-revealed-trumps-long-term-reliance-on-illegal-immigrants/2019/12/04/3dff5b5c-0a15-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html.
Rascouët-Paz, Anna. "Did Biden Call Trump's Supporters Garbage?" Snopes, 30 Oct. 2024, https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/10/30/biden-trump-supporters-garbage/.
Somodevilla, Chip. "Donald Trump Campaigns In The Swing State Of Wisconsin." Getty Images, 30 Oct. 2024, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/republican-presidential-nominee-former-president-donald-news-photo/2181995671.
Wischhover, Cheryl. "Could This Be Trump's Orange Makeup?" Vox.com, 6 Dec. 2019, https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/6/20998822/trump-orange-concealer-bronx-colors.
Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016.
© 1995 - 2024 by Snopes Media Group Inc.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
crc wear plate Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com