Topline
President Donald Trump fired off a string of AI-generated images on Truth Social on Sunday targeting his critics, threatening Iran and showing him posing with former presidents John F Kennedy and George Washington, in his latest AI-post spree despite previous instances drawing criticism and controversy.
President Donald Trump’s posting spree once again mentioned him running in 2028, despite being explicitly barred from doing so by the constitution.
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Key Facts
Between 11:16 a.m. and 5:16 p.m. ET on Sunday, the president posted 43 images on Truth Social—a majority of which appeared to be AI-generated caricatures or deepfakes.
The posting spree began with a post depicting CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins as trans social media star Dylan Muvaney—retreading on a comment the president made during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Another post depicted late-night talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon being broke, unemployed and begging for money—despite both Kimmel and Fallon’s shows still being on the air.
Trump followed these up with a string of deepfake images threatening Iran—showing Kharg Island getting bombarded and Iranian oil tankers being seized by U.S. forces and the president himself.
Aside from mocking others, some of Trump’s AI posts once again floated the idea of him running for President again in 2028—something constitutional term limits prevent him from doing.
What About Posts Featuring Former Presidents?
A running theme of some of the posts made by Trump appeared to show him as the savior of the country on par with other important former presidents. One AI-generated poster labeled “America First” depicts Trump being flanked by three people who appear to be George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Another deepfake shows a present-day Trump standing next to John F. Kennedy in front of the White House—with no accompanying caption or context. The last of the 43 posts is a fake AI-generated movie poster titled “Trump X Washington”, showing Trump saving George Washington.
Tangent
In the middle of the AI posting spree, Trump shared a bar graph that attacked Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. The graph titled “Where is John Thune” compared the hundreds of recess appointments made during the terms of President Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush with zero made during Trump’s term. Recess appointments are temporary appointments made by a president for vacant federal roles when the Senate is in recess. The post failed to mention that zero recess appointments were made during former President Joe Biden’s term as well. This was followed by another apparent AI-generated post of Trump as a doctor pointing at a human spine and the caption: “You see this spine? This is what I want to put back in Republicans.”
key background
The president’s frequent use of AI-generated imagery in his Truth Social posts has been the subject of multiple controversies in the past year and has resulted in backlash. The biggest such controversy erupted in April when the president shared a post depicting himself as Jesus Christ, amid a very public feud with Pope Leo XIV. The post faced immediate pushback from various groups, including some prominent Republicans, prompting Trump to delete it. A few days later, the president posted another AI image showing him embraced by Jesus in front of an American flag. Trump has also shared several of the AI-generated images depicting himself and other members of his cabinet swimming in the renovated Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and presenting the landmark as a sewer under previous Democratic administrations. These posts were made before the president’s own renovation efforts ran into issues with algae and peeling paint. Earlier this month, the president shared a 90-second AI-generated video featuring himself as a doctor diagnosing “Trump Derangement Syndrome” among celebrity critics. The video included deepfakes of Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell, actors Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts, Edward Norton, and John Leguizamo.
further reading
Trump Shares Bizarre AI Video Of Him As Doctor Diagnosing ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ (Forbes)
Trump Attacks Obama, Newsom And Other Democrats In Another Weekend AI Posting Spree (Forbes)
Trump Attacks Biden With AI-Generated Post And Pushes ‘Autopen’ Claims Again (Forbes)