On the eve of Valentine’s Day, as the White House shared an official image of President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, the post immediately generated widespread online discussion on X. Many users openly criticized the tone and appearance of the image.
The post shared on X featured a monochrome photograph of Donald Trump and Melania Trump holding hands and walking inside a building. It also came with a simple, direct caption reading “Happy Valentine’s Day”.
Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Symy237CAD
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 14, 2026
While the post gained traction on social media and earned approximately 11.8 million views, so far, the reaction from netizens has not been entirely positive. Instead of focusing on the romantic message usually associated with Valentine’s Day, users focused on the image of the presidential couple and described it as serious and unhappy.
Taking to X, social media users suggested that the image looked more like a formal government portrait taken by paparazzi rather than an intimate or romantic photograph of a couple. Because Valentine’s Day is traditionally associated with happiness, affection, and celebration of love, users said none of that was visible in the image.
Therefore, many users failed to associate the post with love and felt the tone of the image did not match the event’s emotional theme. Further, the reaction quickly turned into meme content, with netizens mocking the portrait of the presidential couple over their expression of love.
CHEERS TO THE HAPPY COUPLE pic.twitter.com/4ep3PXcSWY
— FruitFlyNews (@LordFruitFly666) February 14, 2026
With many users claiming how absurd Donald Trump’s expression looks in the image, users thus edited and reshared the portrait with humorous captions mocking the President repeatedly over his association and mishandling of the Epstein files.
Bluntly commenting, “They look miserable” on the Trumps’ image, people even shared happy and romantic photos of the Obamas dancing and cherishing their marriage. Others shared sarcastic remarks, commenting “You can really feel the love, lol.”
You can really feel the love, lol.
— Reid Southen (@Rahll) February 14, 2026
The image even sparked harsh criticism where users claimed “I can’t imagine a less romantic “couple”. I guess he’s too old to get divorced a third time”. Further, the situation sparked discussion about how political figures present personal moments online.
Some social media users even mocked the photo’s highly edited appearance on X. They sarcastically attacked the White House media team saying that it was surprising how AI wasn’t used to make the couple smile, despite being overly used in the image to make it appear polished.
While social media became an important tool for public officials to communicate with citizens, the reactions that flooded the comment section under this particular White House post, proved that people’s perspectives can be unpredictable and might lead to criticism, rather than appreciation.
However, despite the backlash and controversy, the post remained widely viewed and shared. Overall, the Trumps’ Valentine’s Day image highlighted the challenges public officials face when balancing official image management with personal messaging.
