"Here he is, depicted at six months in office, chiseled and brawny, as mighty as the very nation. Here he is as a Star Wars Jedi wielding a patriot-red lightsaber, rescuing our galaxy from the forces of evil. Here he is taking over Gaza, transforming the strip into a luxury resort complete with a golden effigy of himself. You can be anything, perhaps you were told growing up. Doctor. Astronaut. Maybe, one day, the president."
"On the social media accounts of Donald Trump and his second-term administration, a new, less official image of the president is emerging bit by bit: one generated artificially. A sign of the times, certainly - when the appeal of reimagining yourself with artificial intelligence has trickled up from us everyday citizens. Bored with your selfies? Join a viral trend: There's an image generator or a chatbot that can turn you into a Renaissance-style painting, a Studio Ghibli character, or an action figure with box art and accessories."
"The AI images of Trump posted by him and his team opt for the alternative - not deceptive but self-evident in their fictitiousness. Pope Francis dies, and Trump jokes to reporters that he'd like to be pope. A week later, he is, but in an AI-generated image that he posts, reposted by the White House. Trump likens himself to a king in a Truth Social post in February, and AI makes him one in an X post by the White House less than an hour later."
Donald Trump and his second-term administration are posting AI-generated images that recast the president as larger-than-life figures. The images depict Trump as a chiseled national symbol, a Star Wars–style Jedi, a conqueror transforming Gaza into a luxury resort, and a pope or king, among other fantastical roles. The images are deliberately fictional and openly presented as such, rather than disguised as authentic photographs. The use of AI-generated imagery reflects a broader cultural trend of reimagining identities through generative tools. Trump previously encountered and leveraged AI-generated content during his 2024 campaign and publicly acknowledged both its power and its potential for blame.
Read at Fast Company
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