By Ayomide Otitoju
From playing football in the Oval Office to sipping cocktails in Gaza and attacking critics from a fighter jet, former President Donald Trump has become the first U.S. president to harness AI-generated imagery as a central tool of political communication.
During the first year of his second term, Trump significantly increased his use of hyper-realistic but fabricated visuals on Truth Social and other platforms, often portraying himself heroically while mocking his critics. The strategy appears designed to appeal to younger voters, and similar AI-driven content has been adopted by other parts of the Trump administration, as well as by some of his political rivals.
One widely circulated AI post shows Trump playing football on the Oval Office carpet with Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he calls a “GREAT GUY” who is “really smart and cool.” Another depicts Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing at a luxurious resort, with “Trump Gaza” displayed on a sign in the background — a nod to Trump’s controversial proposal last year to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Other AI creations have shown Trump dressed as the pope, roaring alongside a lion, and conducting an orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
“Welcome to the United States’ first White House administration to embrace and use imagery generated by artificial intelligence in everyday communication,” noted a report by nonprofit media institute Poynter. “With AI, Trump quickly deploys stereotypes and false narratives in entertaining posts that distill complex issues into their most basic political talking points, regardless of factual accuracy.”
Trump has reserved some of the most provocative AI posts for his rivals. Last year, he shared an AI video of former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office, followed by an AI clip of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and a sombrero — an image Jeffries condemned as racist.
“For someone like Trump, unregulated generative AI is the perfect tool to capture attention and distort reality,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the advocacy group Free Press. “Obama was never arrested in the Oval Office. But calling Trump out won’t faze him or his followers. A leader who lies without verification makes facts contingent on his approval.”
Analysts describe the AI posts as part of a broader trolling-based campaign strategy aimed at energizing voters ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
“Trump consistently treats his time in office as a nonstop political campaign,” said Joshua Tucker, co-director of the New York University Center for Social Media and Politics. “His use of AI-generated imagery is simply another tool, alongside text-based social media posts, to maintain this campaign.”
A study published last month in Nature by Cornell University’s David Rand and colleagues found that interactive AI tools can significantly influence voter preferences in the U.S., Canada, and Poland.
The impact of Trump’s AI strategy has extended beyond his posts. Other administration figures and agencies have experimented with AI-generated content. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., facing criticism for medical misinformation, used AI for a “Make Santa Healthy Again” campaign, while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deployed AI imagery in enforcement campaigns. Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, trolled Trump by posting an AI video on X showing the former president and senior officials in handcuffs.
