President Donald Trump has increasingly turned to AI-generated imagery on his Truth Social platform as his administration faces significant political headwinds. Amid a difficult war in Iran and approval ratings that have reached the lowest points of his second term, the 80-year-old president has shared a series of manipulated photos and videos depicting himself alongside iconic American historical figures, most notably George Washington.
The digital campaign comes as the White House grapples with domestic scrutiny, including reports of poor morale and living conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln following a record-breaking deployment. As he attempts to navigate these challenges and secure a deal with Tehran, Trump has used his social media presence to broadcast images that appear intended to solidify his historical standing.
In one instance earlier this month, Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself and Washington standing together in what is envisioned as his completed White House ballroom. Subsequent posts showed the pair reviewing a map with quills in hand, and another featured them on horseback—Washington on a white horse and Trump on a black one. A video shared on Sunday depicted the two figures walking through the ballroom, gesturing toward the ceiling as if inspecting the construction.
Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of the non-profit media watchdog Media Matters, suggested these posts reflect a deeper psychological ambition. “I think part of the reason he’s posting it is because it ties in with this deeper sentiment that he has that he is on par with, or even potentially better than, George Washington,” Carusone said. “He’s trying to basically be a founder. And AI gives him the ability to project his imagination out into the world.”
Carusone further noted that the president’s focus on the ballroom, which he has openly described as a “legacy project,” serves as a retreat when political pressure mounts. “Every day in Washington DC the city changes and gets more Trump-branded,” Carusone observed. “That is the analog to Washington: there are all these things named after him, but that happened posthumously. With Trump, it’s almost like he’s building a living mausoleum.”
When asked by reporters whether the president believed he had actually met Washington, who has been deceased for over two centuries, a White House spokesperson did not provide a direct answer. Instead, the representative stated that Truth Social remains the “most powerful and popular social media platform in the world” because it allows Trump to communicate his “authentic voice” directly to the American people without interference from what they termed biased media.
Beyond his focus on the nation’s first president, Trump has also utilized AI to craft a narrative of himself as a wartime leader. One shared image shows him in a military uniform, adorned with six rows of medals—a count exceeding those worn by World War II generals George Patton and Douglas MacArthur, who are depicted standing beside him on a battlefield with burning tanks in the background. The report also notes that asked the White House whether Trump, 80, thought he had actually met with Washington, who died more than 200 years ago. The report also notes that with everyone from Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un to Kim Kardashian, donald Trump knows the power of an image – of himself. The report also notes that he posted three more AI pictures of himself and Washington in the ballroom, a minute later. The report also notes that trump’s ballroom has at times appeared to be among his main interests during his second term. The report also notes that and approval ratings hit new lows, he leans on a familiar gambit, as the US president struggles to end his Iran war.
