Former President Donald Trump has revolutionized political communication by becoming the first U.S. president to systematically deploy AI-generated deepfake imagery as a central component of his messaging strategy. Through his Truth Social platform and other channels, Trump has disseminated hyper-realistic fabricated visuals that frequently glorify his persona while satirizing political opponents.
This unprecedented approach features strikingly artificial scenarios: Trump playing football with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Oval Office, sunbathing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a resort labeled “Trump Gaza,” and even conducting orchestras at prestigious venues. The Gaza imagery particularly references Trump’s controversial proposal to transform the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” which previously drew widespread condemnation.
According to analysis by the Poynter Institute, this represents the first White House administration to embrace AI-generated imagery in everyday communications. The technology enables rapid deployment of stereotypes and simplified narratives that reduce complex issues to their most basic political talking points, regardless of factual accuracy.
The most provocative applications target Trump’s critics. He has shared AI-generated videos depicting former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing stereotypical accessories that Jeffries condemned as racist.
Nora Benavidez of Free Press notes that “unregulated generative AI is the perfect tool to capture attention and distort reality” for Trump, creating a environment where “facts are contingent on Trump’s approval.”
Analysts characterize this as a strategy of “campaigning through trolling” that treats presidential communication as an extension of political campaigning. The approach has demonstrated measurable impact: a recent Nature journal study found that human-AI dialogues significantly shift voter preferences in multiple countries.
The strategy’s effectiveness has prompted imitation across the political spectrum. Trump administration departments have adopted similar tactics, while critics like California Governor Gavin Newsom have responded with their own AI-generated content depicting Trump in handcuffs.