Trump Denies Involvement in AI-Generated Taylor Swift Endorsement Images

Donald Trump addresses AI Taylor Swift campaign photos: 'I don't know anything about them'

During an interview with Fox News published Wednesday, the former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee addressed his recent social media posts that contained suspected artificial intelligence-generated images of Swift in support of his campaign. When asked by Fox Business correspondent Grady Trimble if he was "worried" about the pop superstar taking legal action against him, Trump claimed he had no knowledge of the origins of the images, which were posted to Truth Social over the weekend. "I don't know anything about them other than somebody else generated them. I didn't generate them," said Trump, although he did not name the creator of the images. "These were all made up by other people." Trump said AI is "always very dangerous in that way," citing his own experiences with AI impersonations. "It's happening with me too," he said. "They're having me speak - I speak perfectly, absolutely perfectly - on AI, and I'm endorsing other products and things." Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to Fox News Digital that "Swifties for Trump is a massive movement that grows bigger every single day," adding, "While Kamala Harris is guilty as sin for all the hurt she has caused every American." USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for the Trump campaign for comment. AI-generated images of Trump have previously circulated on social media, including fabricated photos of the former president being taken into police custody, attending a cookout with Black supporters and leading a crowd down a street lined with American flags. Read more: Donald Trump posts fake Taylor Swift endorsement, Swifties for Trump AI images Donald Trump shares fake Taylor Swift endorsement on social media On Sunday, Trump took to Truth Social and posted several purportedly AI-generated images alluding to Taylor Swift and Swifties' support for his campaign, despite the singer vocalizing disdain for the Republican nominee in the past. "Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump," read one generated image of Swift as Uncle Sam, while another seemingly AI image, marked as satire, read, "Swifties turning to Trump after ISIS foiled Taylor Swift concert." The latter image referenced a suspected terrorist plot planned for Swift's Vienna concert earlier this month. Austrian authorities, with help from U.S. officials, thwarted the alleged attack. The pictures included a mix of real and AI images, including of Swifties for Trump supporters, akin to the real group MAGA Swifties. Popstars and politics: Trump campaign removes video after reports Beyoncé sent cease and desist What are Taylor Swift's political views? The "I Can Do it With a Broken Heart" singer has not endorsed a candidate for the 2024 presidential election. However, she gave insight into her political beliefs in her 2020 Netflix documentary "Miss Americana." While discussing her endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, D-Tenn., in the 2018 midterm elections, Swift's publicist Tree Paine warned her about Trump coming after her. Swift quipped, "I don't care. If I get bad press for saying, 'Don't put a homophobic racist in office,' then I get bad press for that." The conversation resulted in Swift's Oct. 7, 2018, Instagram post in which she cautioned her fans to not vote for Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. (Blackburn was ultimately elected to the U.S. Senate.) "In the past I've been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country," her caption read. Swift wrote that she "cannot support Marsha Blackburn" because "her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me." After listing Blackburn's stances on issues such as women's safety and LGBTQ+ rights, Swift wrote: "These are not MY Tennessee values."

Trump Pleads Ignorance After Sharing AI-Generated Taylor Swift Images

Days after Donald Trump shared AI-generated images of Taylor Swift and her fans supporting him, the former president is claiming he doesn't know "anything about" the images. When Fox Business asked him whether he was worried that Swift would sue him, Trump responded: "I don't know anything about them other than somebody else generated them. I didn't generate them." Some of the images that Trump posted on Truth Social depicted women wearing t-shirts that said "Swifties for Trump," and another showed Swift as Uncle Sam with the words "Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump." "I accept!" Trump wrote. To be fair, two of the images were real, but the others were not. One of the images said "satire" on it in red. In the interview, Trump maintained his innocence. "These were all made up by other people. AI is always very dangerous in that way," he said. "It's happening with me too. They're having me speak. I speak perfectly, absolutely perfectly on AI, and I'm like endorsing other products and things. It's a little bit dangerous out there," he added. Although she has not commented on the 2024 race, Swift endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020. "Gonna be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by yelling at the tv a lot," she posted on X the night of the VP debate. Trump seems to be fixated on Swift. In January, Rolling Stone reported that Trump allies had declared a "holy war" against the pop star, and that Trump was privately saying he was "more popular" than her. In June, Trump reportedly spent a good chunk of time in a meeting on Capitol Hill complaining about the singer. "Why would she endorse this dope," Trump said, referring to Biden, according to CNN. "He doesn't know how to get off a stage." Trump has also said of Swift: "I think she's beautiful -- very beautiful! I find her very beautiful. I think she's liberal. She probably doesn't like Trump. I hear she's very talented," he said. "I think she's very beautiful, actually -- unusually beautiful!" In 2020, Swift made a post on X directed at Trump: "After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?"

Donald Trump Says He Doesn't Know Anything About AI-Generated Taylor Swift Images He Posted

"I don't know anything about them other than somebody else generated them." Last week, former president Donald Trump shared AI-generated endorsements by Taylor Swift and her fans, proudly announcing that he was delighted to accept their support. "I accept!" Trump proclaimed in a post on Truth Social. One image he included was that of a fake Swift depicted as Uncle Sam, captioned "TAYLOR WANTS YOU TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP." Unsurprisingly, Trump has since denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he had nothing to do with the pictures he posted -- which, at the time of writing, are still live on Truth Social. It's a pitiful response, especially considering he had posted an AI-generated image of his presidential rival Kamala Harris leading a fake communist rally just hours before his Taylor Swift gaffe. The hypocrisy is unmistakable at this point. Just last week, Trump took to Truth Social to wrongly accuse Harris of using AI to fake a picture of her in front of a big crowd. During his latest interview with Fox, Trump also claimed that the images were "all made up by other people," seemingly admitting to sharing fake, AI-generated images of Swift fans: "AI is always very dangerous in that way." It's a new low for a former president who has a decades-long record of lying and distorting the truth. At the same time, it's entirely possible Trump is as clueless as he makes himself out to be. For one, the septuagenarian reportedly doesn't use a computer and used to have an aide who followed him around with a wireless printer to print out the news for him. Besides, he's having trouble stringing words together to form a coherent sentence. In other words, there's a good chance the former president has absolutely no idea how generative AI works. Of course, Trump is now using AI as a way to play the victim, a calling card of the former reality TV host. "We're seeing it all the time," Trump told Fox in a characteristically babbling and incoherent response. "It's happening with me, too. They're making, they're having me speak -- I speak perfectly, I mean absolutely perfectly on AI and I'm, like, endorsing other products and things. It's a little bit dangerous out there."

Trump Disavows AI Taylor Swift Images: 'I Didn't Generate Them' - Decrypt

Republican candidate for U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied any knowledge about the creation of AI-generated images that featured young women wearing t-shirts that said "Swifties for Trump" and a poster where Taylor Swift seemingly endorsed the former president. The former President shared screenshots of AI-generated images on his Truth Social account on Sunday, adding "I accept!" to the post. One of the images included a deepfake of Taylor Swift that read "Taylor Wants You to Vote for Donald Trump," the image a play on World War I and II era "Uncle Sam" posters. In an interview with Fox Business' Grady Trimble, Trump acknowledged that he knew they weren't real. He asked if he was afraid that he would get sued by the megastar. "I don't know anything about them other than somebody else generated them," Trump said. "I didn't generate them; somebody came out, they said, 'Oh, look at this.' These were all made up by other people." Trump, along with other prominent figures -- including current President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Pope Francis -- have been the subject of AI-generated deepfakes, with the spread of such images receiving a mention during Biden's State of the Union address in March. In an effort to curb disinformation using their models, many AI developers have worked hard to keep their respective tools from being used to generate content related to elections and elected officials. Still, AI tools like xAI's Grok have much more permissive settings, making fake images easy to create. Trump went on to echo a statement he made in an interview with Fox Business in February, where he called AI "scary" and "dangerous." "AI is always very dangerous in that way; it's happening with me, too," Trump said. "They're making, having me speak. I speak perfectly, absolutely perfectly, on AI, and I'm, like, endorsing other products and things. It's a little bit dangerous out there." Despite calling AI dangerous, Trump -- in the lead-up to the Democratic National Convention taking place in Chicago -- had also shared an AI-generated image of Vice President Harris on X (aka Twitter).

Trump claims he is innocent after posting fake Taylor Swift endorsement photos: 'Happening with me too'

The former president, who is quite active on social media amid the DNC and doesn't shy away from spreading conspiracy theories, went on to slam the AI as "very dangerous" and seemingly brushed off all blame for posting fake photos of the pop star on his Truth Social account. "I don't know anything about them, other than somebody else generated them. I didn't generate them," Trump told FOX Business Network correspondent Grady Trimble, who inquired about the pictures showing the Cruel Summer singer in an Uncle Sam outfit with a message saying, "Taylor wants YOU to VOTE for DONALD TRUMP." Trimble asked the Republican if he was concerned about being sued by Swift after the images were posted online on Tuesday. The former president said someone showed him the photos and claimed they were "all made up by other people." "AI is always very dangerous in that way," he added. Also read: Trump fires back at Obamas' DNC speeches after viral hand gesture: 'Should I get personal? On Tuesday, Donald Trump, 78, took to his Truth Social account to share a post featuring women wearing "Swifties for Trump" shirts alongside AI-generated photos of Taylor Swift with the endorsement message. In his repost, Trump added the comment, "I accept!" A bunch of pictures were marked as "satire," and it mentioned, "Swifties going for Trump after ISIS messed up Taylor Swift's concert." But two of them appeared to include a genuine Trump supporter account. Also read: Ben Affleck's 'doomed' message etched on Jennifer Lopez's engagement ring revealed Not too long ago, Swift's shows in Vienna had to be called off due to suspicions of an alleged terror attack. Shortly after, many Trump supporters launched a campaign called "Swifties for Trump," claiming that the pop star would be safe under Trump's presidency. However, the TTPD singer herself never endorsed the former president and had even sought to vote him out in the previous election. After sharing a series of AI-generated content on his feed, including one portraying his opponent Kamala Harris speaking at a communist event and dubbing her "Comrade Kamala," as well as other AI memes featuring figures like Elon Musk and others, the former president remarked on Wednesday that AI-generated content featuring him is also circulating online. "It's happening with me too. They're making -- having me speak," Trump reacted. I speak perfectly, I mean absolutely perfectly on AI, and I'm, like, endorsing other products and things, It's a little bit dangerous out there."

Trump Says He’s Afraid of AI After Sharing AI-Images of a Fake Taylor Swift Endorsement

Trump told Fox Business he didn’t know where the pictures he shared with his followers came from. On Sunday, Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image of Taylor Swift in the style of an Uncle Sam propaganda poster. In the picture, Swift pointed at the audience and told fans to vote for Trump. On Wednesday, Fox Business asked Trump if he was worried if Swift would sue him. “I don’t know anything about them other than somebody else generated them, I didn’t generate them,†he said of the pictures he shared on his personal account on the website he owns. “Somebody came out, they said â€~Oh look at this’, these were all made up by other people. AI is always very dangerous in that way.†Trump complained that he, himself, has also been the victim of misrepresentation at the hands of AI. “It’s happening with me too,†he said. “They’re having me speak. I speak perfectly, I mean absolutely perfectly, on AIâ€"and I’m like endorsing other products and things. It’s a little bit dangerous out there.†Swift is famously litigious and protectful of her image. As noted by 404 Media, Trump’s posts could be illegal in states like Tennessee. In March, the state’s governor signed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, which protects the rights of artists from having their voices and likeness appropriated. As of this writing, the images he claims to know nothing about are still up on his Truth Social page. Trump expressed fear around AI-generated images six months ago in another Fox Business interview. He said it was “maybe the most dangerous thing out there of anything because there’s no real solution.†“It is so scary,†he said. “I saw somebody ripping me off the other day where they had me making a speech about their product. I said, â€~I never endorsed that product,’ and I’m telling you you can’t even tell the difference. It looks like I’m endorsing the product.†The reporter expressed her shock. “You can get that into wars and you can get that into other things,†he said. “Something has to be done about this and it has to be done fast. And nobody really knows what to do.†His statements stand in stark contrast to the Republican party platform. In 2023, following a viewing of Mission: Impossibleâ€"Dead Reckoning, Joe Biden got worried about AI. He signed an executive order aimed at making AI safer and more trustworthy. The 2024 GOP platform outlines a plan to repeal that executive order. “We will repeal Joe Biden’s dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology,†it said. “In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.†Six months ago, Trump bemoaned the lack of solutions to the AI problem. “The technology is so good and it’s so powerful that what you say in the interview with you almost doesn't matter anymore,†he said. “They can change things around and no one can tell the difference. Even experts can’t tell the difference. This is a tremendous problem in terms of security. This is a problem that they better get working on right now.â€