An official Valentine’s Day message shared by the White House X account featuring Donald Trump and Melania Trump has gone viral – but not for the romantic reasons intended. The black and white image, which has been viewed 8.6million times on the account, shows the US President and First Lady walking hand-in-hand with serious expressions, accompanied by the caption: “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

However, viewers quickly focused on the couple’s facial expressions, with many saying the photograph appeared unusually sombre for a day typically associated with affection and celebration. One user wrote: “This guy doesn’t look very happy.” Another added simply: “They look miserable.” Several people questioned the romantic tone altogether, posting: “This is supposed to ‘love’?” while another joked: “You can really feel the love.” Others compared the image to an official publicity portrait rather than a personal moment, with one commenter writing: “He should smile more.”

Some responses were more cutting, including one person who brutally compared the mood of the photograph to “poop drying on the side of a road”, while another sarcastically described the Trumps as “the least loving couple in the country.”

The reaction soon turned into memes, including one widely shared post on the social media platform that zoomed in on Trump’s face and sarcastically captioned it: “You can immediately see that the person is happy.”

Another user mocked the image’s polished appearance at the team behind the White House’s social media accounts, writing: “Amazing that with all the AI your team uses that you didn’t change their faces to add a smile.”

Across social media platforms, reactions followed a clear theme – despite the pair holding hands, viewers said the image looked stiff and staged, more like an official government photograph than a romantic Valentine’s snapshot.

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