America.gov is filled with stock art of people not in America
Por Owen Scott — – World RSS Feed
America.gov is filled with stock art of people not in America
At least six of the images were taken outside of the US, one analysis found
Owen Scott Thursday 01 October 2026 16:33 BST
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The Trump administration’s brand new America.gov website has multiple images taken outside the country, according to a report.
Launched at the end of September, the website offers users access to government information via a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence. President Trump has lauded the platform, even describing its launch as “one of the most revolutionary product launches of all time.”
However, an analysis carried out by The Daily Beast found that at least six out of the 11 stock pictures used on the webpage were actually taken outside of the country.
One of the images, an image showing a mother and daughter looking at a tablet, was taken as far afield as Beijing – the capital of China, the U.S.’s major rival in the A.I. race.
open image in galleryAnother showed a young couple, one of whom can be seen beaming at the camera. That image was taken in the Spanish city of Vigo.
A second picture was taken in Spain, this time in Madrid. The image shows a child looking out of a window at commercial jets.
Trump has long criticized the European country’s government, even once suggesting that the U.S. could cancel all trade with Spain.
A fourth picture, showing a young person jumping into a lake, was taken at Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada – another country whose government has an increasingly difficult relationship with the Trump administration.
open image in galleryA fifth picture was taken in Poland, with a sixth being captured in Estonia, The Daily Beast discovered.
At Tuesday’s National Design Studio launch event for the new tool, Trump heaped praise onto the platform, which he claimed was “not simply a website.”
“It’s a restoration of America’s founding promise,” he declared. “And it’s a reinvention of your government for the 21st Century and beyond.”
Despite that, even the business through which the six pictures were sourced is based outside of America. The images are registered on a website named Stocksy, which is in British Columbia, Canada, The Daily Beast revealed.
open image in galleryThe Independent has contacted the National Design Studio over the use of the stock photos.
During the launch event, Trump praised Joe Gebbia, the founder of Airbnb and the architect of America.gov. Gebbia leads the National Design Studio as the U.S.’s first chief design officer.
Trump also revealed that 20-year-old Edward Coristine, better known as “Big Balls” while working for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, was the lead engineer on the project.
The website made headlines earlier in the week after it declared that former President Biden was the winner of the 2020 election, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary.
The launch of America.gov on Tuesday also came just days after Trump hosted Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, for a private dinner at the White House on Sunday.
In recent weeks, Amodei has warned of the need for greater regulations to be imposed on the development of A.I.
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Donald TrumpChinaBeijingSpainThe White HouseAirbnbTrumpAmericaUnited StatesU.S.
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