Snopes - Unpacking claim photo shows US flag touching the ground at White House [View all]

On Nov. 16, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House after spending a weekend at his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago. As usual, a press photographer was on scene to snap photos. They went viral on social media not long after being posted online.

Link to tweet

That's because, in the background, a U.S. flag appeared to be on the ground, which would be a breach of the U.S. flag code. That code states that the flag should "never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise."

Upon viewing the photos, several Snopes readers wrote in asking us whether they were real. They were. However, photos were taken at an angle that did not allow us to confirm whether the flag ever touched the ground. We reached out to both the White House and the photographer who took the image for more information. Until we learn more, we have omitted a truth rating for this claim.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle called the claim that the flag had touched the ground "fake news" in an email statement to Snopes. "Due to the high winds on Sunday evening in the Washington, D.C. area, the flag was lowered into a special container out of an abundance of caution during the Marine One landing," he said.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/11/17/white-house-flag-on-ground/

Uh huh.