Donald Trump was re-elected as the president of the United States on January 20. Earlier, he served as the president of the United States between 2016 and 2020, after which Joe Biden took his place for four years.
In the above context, an animated video showing the latest Time magazine’s cover has gone viral. The video shows the White House turning into a building that resembles the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.
A social media user shared the video with a caption suggesting that Time magazine has recently published a cover that showed the White House building transforming into a Kremlin-like building after Donald Trump regained power for his second term in 2025.
SouthCheck found that the claim is misleading. Time magazine made the White House-Kremlin cover in 2017 after Trump came to power for the first time.
On searching with relevant keywords, we found a report by Business Insider on March 18, 2017. The report suggested that Time magazine published the cover depicting the White House mutating into a Kremlin-like building for its May 29th issue in 2017. The cover was accompanied by a story showcasing White House officials’ struggles to contain and respond to multiple Russia-related controversies.
Another report by USA Today, published on May 18, 2017, stated that Time magazine’s then-published cover showed St. Basil’s Cathedral—meant to represent the Kremlin—overtaking the White House.
The report stated that despite Trump’s refusal, there was collusion between Russia and his campaign. Moreover, there were reports of his associates like Michael Flynn, Carter Page and others to have links to Russia. There were accusations that Trump was also accused of disclosing classified information to Russian officials.
The original video was also tweeted by the X handle of Time on May 18, 2017, with a caption that reads, “TIME’s new cover: How Trump’s loyalty test is straining Washington.”
The tweet also shared a link to the article with the title, ‘Trump’s loyalty Test.’ The report stated that Trump faced scrutiny over his emphasis on personal loyalty within his administration. Reports indicated that Trump sought loyalty pledges from key officials, notably from then-FBI Director James Comey. Comey testified that during a private dinner, the president expressed a desire for loyalty, which Comey found concerning given the FBI’s tradition of independence. This approach raised alarms about potential challenges to the autonomy of federal agencies and the implications for governance.
We further looked at the archive of the recent publications of TIME magazine, and we could not find this image.
The January edition of Time magazine which was published on January 27, 2025, had Jimmy Carter, the 39th US President, on his cover photo. Similarly, on February 10, 2025, Time magazine published a cover photo of Trump with the quote, ‘He is back.’ On February 24, 2025, the photo of Colman Domingo, an American actor, playwright and director, was published on the cover photo of Time.
