Much of the western (at least in the UK/US) way of life is/was predicated on being able to have some trust in the government and officials.

Politicians have always been seen as venal and corrupt. But the institutions have always been trusted. This is being rapidly eroded.

What's craziest to me about their editing her image is that they made her skin tone darker, which imo has racist implications. They also made her look older and fatter, and more disheveled, lowering her top. Just awful all-around.

There's public trust left? What can you trust at this point?

When has he ever told the truth?

His statements are 100% projection.

I don't believe that it erodes the public trust any more than it already has. For those who oppose the administration, this is just one lie added to the top of the pile. They don't have any trust to erode.

For his supporters, it's yet more proof that they are in the right, and that opponents are weak cowards. The fact that the image was manipulated doesn't really register. At most, it's just a way of making the truth clearer -- the real truth, even if the photographer didn't happen to click the camera at just the right moment to capture it the conventional way. For them, their trust keeps going up.

This is the standstill we'll be at for quite some time. To erode public trust further, there would have to be consequences that people tied back to the manipulated pictures. I don't see that happening today.