Two-headed golfing American eagle at President Trump student talk

White House officials are baffled as to how a doctored presidential seal was projected on stage at Trump event.

US President Donald Trump next to the doctored presidential seal. Picture: AFP

White House officials are baffled as to why a doctored presidential seal — including an eagle clutching golf clubs in its talons instead of arrows — was projected on stage at an event at which Donald Trump spoke.

The seal was displayed on Tuesday at Turning Point USA’s student summit in Washington, where Mr Trump gave a raucous 80-minute speech and was greeted warmly by the youthful audience.

A representative for Turning Point USA told The Washington Post that the fake seal was a mistake, the result of a rushed online search.

But while the group called the slip-up “unacceptable” and said the person responsible had been sacked, they maintained there was no “malicious intent”.

The image included a two-headed eagle, instead of just one head, which closely resembles the bird on the Russian coat of arms. The eagle is holding golf clubs in its left talons, instead of the actual seal’s clutch of arrows, and cash in its right talons, instead of an olive branch. The actual seal says “E Pluribus Unum”, which means “from many one” in Latin, on the banner above the bird’s head. The altered seal said, “45 es un titere”, which in Spanish means “45 is a puppet”. Mr Trump is the 45th president of the US. In addition, the shield on the bird’s chest has hammer-and-sickle symbols on it.

Turning Point USA was founded to organise conservative students on college campuses by Charlie Kirk, an outspoken supporter of Mr Trump. It maintains a Professor Watchlist of college professors it deems too liberal.

As a political non-profit, the group may raise and spend unlimited funds and engage in educational efforts around politics, but it is prohibited from using its resources to campaign for a candidate for office.

Reuters