• President Donald Trump on Tuesday addressed the conservative youth group Turning Point USA in Washington, DC.
  • The presidential seal displayed on a giant screen behind Trump as he addressed the conference had been doctored to show what appeared to be a Russian imperial eagle clutching golf clubs.
  • A representative for Turning Point USA told The Washington Post it was unclear how the symbol came to be shown behind the president, blaming it on a last-minute audio-visual mistake.
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After a 12-minute video extolling his virtues as a leader, President Donald Trump took to the stage at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to deliver a speech to thousands of young, cheering supporters at the Turning Point USA conference.

But as Trump stood enjoying the rapturous welcome, no one seemed to notice that there was something subtly different about the presidential seal that was being shown on the screen behind him.

Instead of the bald eagle featured in the official seal of the president of the United States, the image featured a double-headed eagle, which bears a striking resemblance to the one on the official coat of arms of the Russian Federation.

The alteration seemed designed to poke fun at Trump over his administration’s controversial ties to Russia, which US intelligence says interfered in the US election in a bid to aid Trump’s candidacy.

And instead of clutching arrows in its left claw, the eagle in the altered image held golf clubs - most likely a not-so-subtle reference to one of Trump's favorite hobbies.

Here's a picture of the official US presidential seal.

US presidential seal

Foto: The seal of the president of the United States.sourceLiaison Agency

Here's the Russian eagle, which has two heads and derives from the coat of arms of the Russian czars.

Russian eagle

Foto: The Russian national symbol, a double-headed eagle, seen covered by snow in Moscow on December 6.sourceSefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

And here's the the mysteriously altered presidential seal that Trump spoke in front of Tuesday. The two-headed eagle is clearly visible, as are the golf clubs on the lower right section of the fake seal.

presidential seal

Foto: The circles show the parts of the presidential seal that were changedsourceReuters

The Washington Post first noticed the discrepancies. The White House told the publication that officials had not seen the image before Trump appeared onstage.

The Washington Post traced images online selling a similar fake seal where the US' Latin motto "E pluribus unum" which means "Out of many, one" has been replaced by the Spanish words: "45 es un titere." This roughly translates into English as: "45 is a puppet." 45 references Trump's status as the 45th president.

A spokesperson for Turning Point USA told the Washington Post that he didn't know where the image came from or how it ended up on a screen behind the president.

"It was a last-minute A/V mistake - and I can't figure out where the breakdown was - but it was a last minute throw-up, and that's all it was," the spokesman told the Post.

"I can't figure out who did it yet," said the spokesperson.