Working hard during COVID-19 treatment?…Trump sparks controversy with staged photo signing on a blank paper

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Controversy has arisen over a photo showing President Donald Trump, who is hospitalized with the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), signing a blank sheet of paper to send a message that he is working hard while fighting the illness.

On the 4th (local time), the British Daily Mail reported, based on photos released by the White House, that Trump, who is hospitalized at Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, appeared to have signed a blank sheet of paper.

The photos released by the White House showed President Trump reviewing documents at the end of a square table wearing a white shirt. Another photo showed him wearing a white shirt and black jacket, seemingly signing a white document at a round table. This suggests that President Trump was working at different locations within the hospital at different times.

The Daily Mail reported that Andrew Feinberg, a U.S. journalist with access to the White House, analyzed the photos and concluded that President Trump appeared to be signing a blank sheet of paper. John Ostrower, editor of the aviation magazine Air Current, analyzed the digital information of the photos and stated that the two photos were taken about 10 minutes apart on the previous day. The fact that the two photos, which appear to show Trump signing a blank sheet of paper at different locations, were taken only 10 minutes apart has raised suspicions that the photos were staged intentionally.

Ivanka Trump, President Trump's eldest daughter and White House senior advisor, shared one of the photos on Twitter, praising President Trump by saying, "Nothing can stop him from working for the American people. Fierce!"

A White House official told the news weekly Newsweek, "President Trump signed 10 documents, and we released two last night." However, the official did not comment on whether President Trump signed a blank sheet of paper or when the photos were taken.

The Daily Mail reported that criticism calling it a "reality show" poured in on social networking services (SNS) regarding the staged photo controversy involving President Trump. The Daily Mail also pointed out suspicions of editing in a video released by President Trump the previous day. In the video, there is a scene where President Trump appears to hiccup, which may have been edited to conceal coughing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.