PolitiFact – Old photo of former President Donald Trump used to hawk diet pills

An Instagram post hawking diet pills is using two photos of former President Donald Trump to promote a “tropical loophole” that supposedly “dissolves fat overnight.” 

One photo of Trump, taken from the front, is labeled “last week,” and another, taken from the side, says “2020.” 

“Everyone is going crazy over this secret tropical loophole right now!” the Jan. 29 post says. “A newly discovered bizarre tropical fat-dissolving loophole which dissolves 2 ½ lbs in 24 hours that has NOTHING to do with dieting or exercise… (in fact eating your favorite foods is recommended).” 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The photo of Trump that’s labeled “2020” was taken in the Rose Garden of the White House in June 2020. 

But the photo that’s labeled “last week” was not taken in January 2023. Donald Trump Jr. shared it online in September 2021. 

The Instagram post directs users to a website that gives them two link options: One link takes them to a website where they can buy pro-Trump t-shirts, and the other link takes them to another site focused on the diet pills. (Trump isn’t mentioned on that site.) 

The “last week” photo of Trump is more than a year old.

We rate this post False.