This time, the media is accusing President Donald Trump of "fake news." While visiting one of Trump's golf resorts, a reporter noticed a framed TIME magazine with Trump on the cover. The only problem? It's Photoshopped. Though Trump has been on 14 TIME Magazine covers, this isn't one of them. According to the BBC, this cover hangs in at least five of Trump's clubs—so this isn't an isolated incident, either.
The cover has a few differences from TIME Magazine's normal design that may have tipped off the reporter: the iconic red border is slightly thinner on the fake Trump cover and the headlines, featuring two exclamation points, are right-justified, not centered. The biggest clue, though, is simply that Oscar Award winner Kate Winslet was on the front of TIME Magazine on March 1st, 2009—not Trump.
"I can confirm that this is not a real TIME cover,” TIME spokesperson Kerri Chyka told The Washington Post on Tuesday, and TIME has asked Trump to remove the fake covers. It's unclear why Trump would have a fake cover in the first place (let alone publicly display five copies of it), but oddest of all is the two headlines the real and fake covers share. It seems like whoever made Trump's cover had at least some dedication to authenticity if they went to the trouble of tracking down the real issue's headlines.
Though we have no idea why this cover exists, it's already spawned some hilarious parodies.
— birdsrightsactivist (@ProBirdRights) June 27, 2017
Wow, my first cover of Time. Asked my staff to frame this and hang it in all four of my offices. @realDonaldTrumphttps://t.co/Hx57ZJExR8pic.twitter.com/y1HciTB5G1
— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) June 27, 2017
Trump has yet to comment on this discovery, but we'll be watching his Twitter with bated breath.
