Trump's Embrace of AI Deepfakes: Blurring Reality and Reshaping Political Communication

The Deepfake Presidency

Advances in artificial intelligence help Trump in his efforts to manufacture reality. Donald Trump's rise tracks the decline of that thing we once agreed to call reality. He cemented his place in the popular imagination with the advent of reality television, a genre that promised authenticity, even as the supposedly unscripted scenes were carefully manipulated by producers. On The Apprentice, which debuted in 2004, Trump was the embodiment of a culture just beginning to blur the line between what was real and what merely looked like it. In his second term as president, Trump -- now with the help of artificial intelligence -- is completing the revolution that made him. Over the weekend, he posted a video of himself piloting a fighter jet that dumps excrement on protesters. The clip was cartoonish, meant to amuse his followers and outrage his adversaries. This might seem like an ephemeral bit of trollish fun, but it is an example of an alarming pattern. Trump is provoking an epistemic collapse -- cultivating the sense that every shard of once-dependable evidence is suspect. He is ushering in an era of distrust and confusion, in which the president molds perception to serve his own interests. The deepfake is the most disconcerting frontier of the AI revolution. Fabricated clips are rendered with such precision that they can make anyone appear to say or do anything. This technology stands to upend a basic assumption of modern life. For more than a century, humans have treated film as the ultimate proof of reality, the mechanical witness that doesn't lie. Deepfakes exploit the instinct to trust what we see, counterfeits capable of warping emotion and implanting lies. Fueled by his own delusions of grandeur -- and the dark fantasies of revenge that animate him -- Trump delights in doctored videos. During his first term, he tweeted footage spliced to exaggerate Nancy Pelosi's verbal stumbles. In his 2024 campaign, he shared an AI-generated image that suggested that Taylor Swift had endorsed him. And last month, he posted a fake clip of Chuck Schumer declaring, "Nobody likes Democrats anymore. We have no voters left because of all of our woke, trans bullshit." The president of the United States has legitimized deepfakes as a tool of political communication. His followers have taken the cue. Last week, the campaign arm of Senate Republicans released an AI-produced ad depicting Chuck Schumer speaking words that had appeared in a press report -- not in any actual footage. As deepfakes become the common currency of social media, citizens will justifiably begin to harbor doubts about any piece of video they encounter. But those doubts won't yield discernment. They will simply provide another justification for the confirmation of ideological bias. Partisans will accept video footage when it upholds their preconceptions; when it does not, dismissing it as potentially manipulated will become standard practice. Jessica Yellin: The awkward adolescence of a media revolution Members of Trump's administration are already deploying this tactic. Earlier this week, Politico revealed text messages attributed to Paul Ingrassia, the president's choice to lead the Office of Special Counsel, in which the nominee admitted to having a "Nazi streak" and unleashed a torrent of racist vituperation. (Ingrassia ultimately withdrew his nomination.) When confronted with the messages, his lawyer didn't deny their authenticity outright but instead implied that they might have been fabricated by AI. That claim is baseless, but the strategy isn't. The public has largely lost faith in traditional arbiters of truth -- mainstream media, religion, academia -- and many citizens have cocooned themselves in the comfort of filter bubbles. Now they've begun to disagree about the most basic facts of shared existence, including the outcomes of an election. At the beginning of the century, when The New York Times reported the scandalous behavior of a politician, leadership of both political parties would assume the allegation's truth, even if Republicans might have grouched about the paper's liberal bias. When the government released an employment report, the nation roundly regarded it as an objective reading of the economic weather. But Trump is attempting to dismantle those institutional underpinnings of reality. In the 20th century, the federal government became the nation's most trusted producer of facts. It tracked the economy, the spread of disease, and countless other indicators that allowed businesses to plan and citizens to make informed choices. Trump is shattering that tradition of disinterested empiricism, bending even the information generated by the government to his will. That's why he has fired officials -- such as the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- who are in charge of producing objective data and moved to replace them with loyalists. Agencies once meant to measure reality now risk becoming instruments that manufacture it. Nancy A. Youssef: The last days of the Pentagon Press Corps Trump is also taking steps to stifle the traditional media, which, however imperfectly, still strives to offer an objective account of events. Leveraging the government's power to reject mergers, he pressured Paramount, CBS's parent company, into settling a spurious lawsuit over an episode of 60 Minutes. His administration has sent a message to corporate media that an adversarial stance toward the president will carry financial risk. At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has imposed such onerous restrictions on the press corps that reporters have effectively been expelled from the building, an effort to prevent them from producing the kind of independent reporting that might puncture the administration's self-serving version of events. Years ago, Trump's most prominent ally in Silicon Valley offered a prophetic vision of this world. Elon Musk has entertained the idea that human existence is really just a computer simulation -- a virtual realm so convincingly rendered that everything becomes malleable, that reshaping the world is merely a matter of rewriting a few lines of code. To adherents, this vision is not a nightmare but a kind of liberation. Truth can always be revised. Manipulation is the most basic fact of life. And Trump has assumed the role of the master programmer.

How Trump Is Using Fake Imagery to Attack Enemies and Rouse Supporters

The era of A.I. propaganda is here -- and President Trump is an enthusiastic participant. After nationwide protests this weekend against Mr. Trump's administration, the president posted an A.I.-generated video to his Truth Social account depicting himself as a fighter pilot, careening through major cities and dropping excrement on protesters. It was the latest example in a yearslong shift by Mr. Trump to deploy fake imagery, generated by artificial intelligence, as part of his social media commentary. Mr. Trump has posted A.I.-generated images or videos at least 62 times on his Truth Social account since late 2022, according to a review by The New York Times of his posts to the social network. The fake imagery has included blistering attacks on his political rivals, flattering depictions of himself, and misleading political campaign materials made entirely by A.I. tools. Overall, he has attacked his opponents, including top Democratic leaders and his Republican rivals, with A.I. imagery at least 14 times. In the run-up to the 2024 election, Mr. Trump posted at least 19 A.I. images or videos in support of his presidential campaign, including an image of Elon Musk next to a D.O.G.E. logo long before the cost-cutting idea became reality. Mr. Trump posted at least seven times this year attempting to score political points by bringing to life his policy ideas, mocking criticism against them or celebrating his administration. And, most of all, Mr. Trump posted at least 21 fantastical reimaginings of himself -- rendered, for example, as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize or even a king. Some of the posts were likely to mislead viewers or amplify political divisions. Others were jokes with obvious markers of A.I. trickery. Political experts said that even the most anodyne uses of A.I. by the president would normalize the tools as a potent new part of modern political propaganda. "Trump is the most notable person sharing this content, but this is really becoming an international, new form of political messaging," said Henry Ajder, an expert on A.I. and the founder of Latent Space Advisory, an A.I.-consulting firm. "It's designed to go viral, it's clearly fake, it's got this absurdist kind of tone to it. But there's often still some kind of messaging in there." The White House has responded to questions over Mr. Trump's use of A.I. imagery by suggesting it was part of his successful social media strategy. "No leader has used social media to communicate directly with the American people more creatively and effectively than President Trump," Liz Huston, the White House's assistant press secretary, said Friday in an emailed statement. Mr. Trump's use of the technology has evolved alongside the tools, which have rapidly improved from producing obviously fake images in 2022 to more lifelike renderings -- including video and audio -- this year. In countries around the world, the tools have offered new ways for politicians and candidates to bring to life their partisan arguments. Politicians have, for instance, used A.I. to imagine futures they want voters to fear, such as punctuating anti-immigrant messages by using A.I. to depict classrooms overcrowded with immigrants. For Mr. Trump, the tools helped him to visualize the supposed effects of "open borders" during his campaign, contrasting two A.I. images: one an idyllic scene, the other an overcrowded one with trash piled out in the open. The content can be rapidly created by typing descriptions of the desired images and videos into A.I.-generating tools like Grok or ChatGPT. Some videos were made using multiple A.I. tools, such as a video of Robert De Niro that Mr. Trump shared last year: Someone replaced the actor's lip movements with A.I.-rendered manipulations to match a voice soundalike that was also created by A.I. audio tools. The New York Times used tools designed to detect A.I. images to help identify the fakes, alongside manual review. Content that could not be clearly identified as A.I., and posts that appeared to primarily show real videos that had been edited by A.I.-powered filters, were excluded. Mr. Trump's use of A.I. content began in earnest during his re-election bid, when the tools became sophisticated enough for amateur creators to produce realistic images of famous people, including Mr. Trump. Last September, after his first debate against Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee and then the vice president, Mr. Trump claimed that Haitian immigrants in Michigan were eating cats and dogs -- a racist conspiracy theory for which there was no credible evidence. Mr. Trump responded to the backlash that followed by posting a flurry of A.I. images depicting him embracing cats, ducks and dogs. His supporters shared the images widely online. "The more ridiculous the photo or video, the more likely it is to dominate our news feeds," said Adrian Shahbaz, vice president of research and analysis at Freedom House, a nonprofit focusing on democracy and liberty around the world. "A controversial post gets shared by people who enjoyed it and people outraged by it. That's twice the shares." Mr. Trump's embrace of A.I. content has accelerated since he re-entered the White House in January, increasing in sophistication alongside tools that can now generate superrealistic A.I. videos and audio. It was not clear in most cases whether the imagery was posted by Mr. Trump or by a member of his team, but the message-conscious president is famous for controlling his own social media accounts. It was also not clear in many cases whether the A.I. imagery was created by Mr. Trump or someone in the White House, or whether it originated elsewhere and was simply reposted by Mr. Trump's account. The president has used A.I. imagery to highlight policy ideas and appeared to joke about issues that were roiling the public. For instance, when he appointed himself as the head of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, he published an image of himself depicted as a conductor. He also posted an image of himself atop a mountain, next to the Canadian flag, punctuating his suggestion that Canada should become the 51st state. In recent months, Mr. Trump has demonstrated a willingness to use A.I.-generated content to skewer opponents and stoke deeper tensions. This month, he posted a video depicting the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, in stereotypical Mexican garb. The video used A.I. to replace the voice of the Democratic Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, making it seem as though he was disparaging the Democratic Party. In a televised statement, Mr. Jeffries criticized the video as racist. Then, in another post, Mr. Trump posted that interview, edited with A.I. tools to include four A.I. versions of the president as members of a mariachi band. Mr. Trump was also widely criticized for a video he posted in February depicting "Trump Gaza," a futuristic version of the war-torn region rendered as a beachfront paradise with a gold statue of Mr. Trump at its center. Democratic lawmakers and advocates for Palestinian rights called the video insulting and disturbing. The White House responded: "Trump is a visionary." The backlash has not slowed the president's use of the technology, especially during moments of national outrage. He posted a video showing himself shaking hands with a figure in the Cracker Barrel logo after an uproar among conservatives over the company's plans to remove an older white man from its logo in favor of a text-only version. As he toyed with plans to send the National Guard to Chicago, he posted an A.I.-generated image of himself imagined into the film "Apocalypse Now" above the title "Chipocalypse Now" and a caption that read, in part, "Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR." The memes and videos have deceived some social media users, who replied to his posts asking whether they were real or fake. After Mr. Trump posted a video that included a fictitious, A.I.-generated arrest of former President Barack Obama, a few users on Truth Social signaled that they were not sure whether the footage was real. "Whoa.... Did this really happen?" wrote one user. "Is this real footage of Obama being arrested????" wrote another. A.I. tools have been embraced by scammers and conspiracy theorists, who have used the technology to make too-good-to-be-true videos of news reports about miracle medicines or astounding discoveries. Mr. Trump posted one such video last month about a news report concerning "medbeds," a fictional health product described as a cure for a variety of illnesses. Medbeds have been an obscure conspiracy theory among internet users. It was not clear why Mr. Trump posted the video or whether he knew it was A.I.-made, and the video was soon deleted from his account. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said during a news briefing that the president "saw the video and posted it," but offered no explanation. In at least some cases, generating A.I. fakes has proved effective at seizing Mr. Trump's attention. After Mr. Trump did not win a Nobel Peace Prize, despite openly lobbying for one, he posted an image originally posted by the Israeli government depicting him receiving the prize amid applause and confetti. After the government shut down over a funding fight this month, Mr. Trump posted a video depicting himself and members of his cabinet in ominous cloaks reminiscent of the Grim Reaper. The video was created by Dilley 3000 Meme Team, a guerilla messaging outfit that is deeply loyal to Mr. Trump and has produced dozens of videos skewering Democrats and praising Mr. Trump. The group is run by Brenden Dilley, a podcaster and former congressional candidate, and a team of content creators who organize online. Mr. Dilley declined to comment. "The truth no longer matters, all you have to do is go viral," Mr. Dilley wrote on X during Mr. Trump's re-election campaign.

Trump and MAGA embrace AI deepfake videos that blur fact and fiction

Why it matters: As the Trump administration continues to pursue a social media strategy filled with memes, AI-videos and posts meant to troll the left, Republicans continue to blur the lines between what is satire-filled parody and what critics say is problematic misinformation. What they're saying: "The president uses social media to make the point," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said at a news conference Monday when asked about an AI-generated video of Trump dumping brown sludge over "No Kings" protesters. * "You can argue he's probably the most effective person who's ever used social media for that." * "He is using satire to make a point. He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents," he added. Driving the news: The president posted the video to his Truth Social account on Saturday, drawing condemnation from Democrats, as well as rockstar Kenny Loggins, whose song "Danger Zone" was used in the post. * Loggins joined a long list of artists condemning the Trump administration for using their work without permission. * "Sh--ing all over these No Kings losers," White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung wrote on X alongside a laughing emoji. Thought bubble from Axios' Megan Morrone: The vibe around deepfakes is changing -- and there are no rules to regulate it. * An AI-generated video of a political figure used to be a scandal and now it barely registers. And Trump-era meme politics have blurred the line so much that fakes look real, and real videos come with built-in plausible deniability. Case in point: The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which fundraises to elect GOP senators, posted an AI-video last week of Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying "every day gets better" for Democrats as the shutdown drags on. * The quote in the video is real, but the imagery in the ad is fake. * There's a tiny watermark noting that it was made with AI in the corner, but there's nothing in the FEC's regulations that limits doctored ads like this one -- meaning we'll likely see more as the 2026 midterms approach. Zoom out: The Trump administration has gone all in on using AI on its social media accounts, including by posting videos with fake quotes from Trump's political adversaries. * The president posted a fake video of Schumer saying "nobody likes Democrats anymore," and superimposed a sombrero and exaggerated handlebar mustache on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in a way that many critics deemed "racist" last month. * Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) jumped in as well, posting an AI-video of every Senate Democrat who voted against the House's shutdown bill donning a sombrero, set to a to a parody version of "Macarena." * Trump also posted an AI-generated video of Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought as the grim reaper earlier this month, as Vought prepared to cut thousands of federal jobs. The bottom line: The president has made it clear he's got an affinity for using AI to promote his policy agenda. Now its up to Americans to get better at identifying deepfakes as they get more and more realistic.

Trump and GOP leaders keep posting AI slop

Celebrities, including musician Kenny Loggins, are being brought into the fray by political leaders. Credit: Alex Wong / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images On Saturday, Oct. 18, nearly 7 million Americans gathered in the streets to protest what they view as the machinations of a tyrannical government: The president's deployment of national guard troops to patrol "dangerous" cities, the movement of masked immigration agents tasked with rounding up undocumented residents, and, what many see as an authoritarian power grab across the three branches of government. At more than 2,700 No Kings rallies held in cities small and large, protesters demanded President Donald Trump be held accountable to the people, harkening back to the foundational tenets of the American Revolution. In an Air Force One interview following the day's events, Trump dismissed the demands of protesters, calling the attendees a "whacked out" joke. "I'm not a king. I work my ass off to make our country great," he said. He didn't stop there. Taking to Truth Social, the president shared a clearly AI-generated video, depicting a military jet emblazoned with the phrase "King Trump." The aircraft, piloted by an eerily proportioned President Trump in a golden crown, then takes to the skies to fly over a group of city protesters. The jet opens its fuselage and... appears to rain down excrement on the gathered crowd. The video is soundtracked to Kenny Loggins' "The Danger Zone," made famous in the Academy Award-winning film Top Gun. "This is an unauthorized use of my performance of 'Danger Zone.' Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately," said Loggins in a statement to Variety after the post went viral. The video is just the latest of numerous deepfaked videos and AI slop shared by the president -- and not even the only AI video Trump posted that day, resharing another King Trump clip with a song by band Avenged Sevenfold. In the past, Trump has come under fire for resharing AI-generated content, the use of copyrighted music without permission, and, unsurprisingly, a combination of the two. Public comments and legal threats from artists have yet to stop the country's leader. In addition to AI memes that littered the campaign trail, Trump has even shared deepfaked, even racist, videos of his political opponents while sitting in the Oval Office. As part of a larger, right-wing social media strategy featuring increasingly questionable content, Trump and fellow GOP leaders have been on a spree of sharing AI-generated content. Last week, the official Senate Republicans X account posted a video which depicted an AI deepfake of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying the government shutdown has benefited Democrats (the quote was real, but the video of Schumer saying it was not). In the weeks prior, the Trump administration plastered claims that the federal shutdown was the result of a scheme by the "Radical Left," in what could be a violation of the Hatch Act. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The posts have been the center of White House press room debates and mass fact checks by misinformation watchdogs. Meanwhile, Trump has been riding on the support of Big Tech's biggest names, including the leaders of the country's biggest generative AI developers. The combination has spurred concerns about the blurring of political satire and political misinformation, and whether or not the social media posts of the nation's political leaders should be more contained. At a news conference on Monday, Speaker Mike Johnson defended the use of AI by the president. "The president uses social media to make the point. You can argue he's probably the most effective person who's ever used social media for that," said Johnson. "He is using satire to make a point. He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents."

How Trump's Use of AI Videos Is Changing His Political Playbook

Over the weekend, he posted a highly produced AI-generated video on Truth Social depicting himself wearing a crown, piloting a fighter jet labeled "King Trump," and dropping what appeared to be excrement on protesters below - a likely reference to the nationwide "No Kings" rallies that drew millions of demonstrators. The post was not an isolated stunt. It reflects a deliberate evolution in Trump's digital strategy, experts argue - one that fuses AI-generated spectacle with the combative, meme-driven style that has defined his political communication for nearly a decade. At a press conference Monday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the video. "You can argue he's probably the most effective person who's ever used social media for that," he said. "He is using satire to make a point. He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents." Trump dismissed the protests, telling reporters Sunday, "I'm not a king. I work my ass off to make our country great. That's all it is." Trump's reliance on AI-generated content has become a defining feature of his digital presence. In recent months, he has circulated several AI-created images and videos - depicting himself as a pope, a warrior, winning the Nobel Peace Prize - to reinforce his political persona and mock his critics. Last month, he posted an AI video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a fake mustache and sombrero, which Jeffries and civil rights groups condemned as racist.

President Trump Posts AI Video of Himself Spraying Explosive Diarrhea on Peaceful Protestors

Welcome to the age of slop spectacle, where AI horrors are flushed down to you from the very top. On Saturday night, sitting president of the United States of America Donald Trump shared an extraordinarily bizarre AI-generated video of himself piloting a fighter jet labelled "KING TRUMP" while strafing droves of peaceful protestors with multiple barrages of -- we swear we are not making this up -- liquid diarrhea. This is not a drill. A shot of the 79-year-old commander-in-chief in the jet's cockpit shows him wearing a crown instead of a flight helmet. "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins plays in the background. It's "Top Gun" meets "Two Girls, One Cup" -- and makes us long for the days when the president set a higher tone for the national discourse, and at least pretended not to have this much contempt for, us, the masses. Trump shared the video on his social network site Truth Social on the same day that some seven million people participated in "No Kings" protests across the country decrying his administration. It's likely one of the largest single day protests in the country's history, drawing millions more than the first "No Kings" mass demonstration in June, when Trump held a military parade commemorating the US army's 250th anniversary on the same day of his birthday. The president's response to this outpouring of anger against his authoritarian policies, it seems, is to simply embrace being king. It's perhaps the strangest example yet of the Trump administration's wielding of AI-generated imagery to attack its detractors and mock people harmed by its policies. These are often posted on the official White House and Department of Homeland Security social accounts, like an AI "Ghibli-style" image of an immigrant crying while being deported. But it's also clear that Trump, or his aides, are generally just addicted to AI slop overall, with tons of AI depictions being churned out from his account that don't always have a clear political aim. The strange material was met with confusion and bewilderment by the public. Probably the most confused reaction came from Harry Sisson, a liberal social media influencer known for his political commentary on TikTok, who appears to be on the receiving end of one of the fecal barrages in the AI video. "Can a reporter please ask Trump why he posted an AI video of himself dropping poop on me from a fighter jet?" Sisson tweeted. (Vance responded, tweeting "I'll ask him for you Harry.") Even '80s hitmaker Kenny Loggins weighed in, slamming Trump's use of his classic song. "This is an unauthorized use of my performance of 'Danger Zone.' Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately," he told Variety. "I can't imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us." Soon after the poop bombing video, Trump's account also reshared an AI-generated video posted by vice president JD Vance, which depicts Trump placing a crown on his own head, throwing on a royal mantle, and raising a sword in front of kneeling Democratic party leaders while Avenged Sevenfold's hit "Hail to the King" rumbles on.

Outrage grows over Trump's 'disgusting' AI response to 'No Kings'

Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video of himself dumping feces from a fighter jet onto protestors, following US-wide demonstrations against his administration. This latest - but not uncommon - use of AI from the Trump administration has drawn widespread criticism. Millions of Americans marched against Trump's administration this weekend, with the "No Kings" march opposing the president's "authoritarian power grab." The 18 October protest, the third mass mobilisation since Trump's return to the White House, drew nearly 7 million people across all 50 states according to organisers. This figure would make it the largest single-day mobilisation against a US president in modern history. Several Hollywood figures like Jimmy Kimmel, Spike Lee, Robert De Niro and Glenn Close joined the protestors and expressed their opposition to Trump's presidency and the growing levels of authoritarianism. Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis posted a photo of a "no parking" sign with duct tape covering letters to read "no king." She wrote: "In this world of abundance and BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST, it doesn't matter if this was the MOST people ever turning out in protest, it just matters that we SHOWED UP, STOOD UP, said what we THINK and FEEL and now the HARD work. We have a YEAR to send a real MESSAGE at the BALLOT BOX which is our AMERICAN VOICE, and so, let's get &$@KING BUSY!" Instead of presidentially reacting to the peaceful opposition, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video on Truth Social which showed him wearing a crown, flying a "KING TRUMP" fighter jet, and proceeding to bomb crowds of protestors with brown sludge which clearly looked like feces. All this to Kenny Loggins' 1986 hit song 'Danger Zone' - an apparent reference to the Top Gun movies - and despite the fact that Trump insisted that he is "not a king" on Fox Business ahead of the protests. The scatological video was shared on the president's personal and government social media accounts, and joined by Vice President JD Vance's very own AI video of Trump wearing a crown and cape. This is not the first time that Trump and his allies have trolled their opponents by posting AI-generated images or ramped up threats using AI - one of the latest being his "Chipocalypse Now" image, which led Euronews Culture to ask: "Is the Trump administration culturally illiterate?" However, this latest post has been widely blasted online as one of the most "pathetic" attempts to dismiss Trump's critics. Many expressed shock over the way the video shows disdain for people exercising their right to protest and the "insulting" dismissal of democracy - as if to prove the protestors' point. Social media users accused Trump of having "the maturity and decorum of a 12-year-old boy", while others commented: "Can't believe that's a president of a country." Many posts pointed out that Trump's "childish" and "disgusting" AI post revealed a transparent representation of his genuine feelings toward the American people. "It tells you everything you need to know about what he thinks about the people of America who are, in fact, America," one person commented, while another added: "Him taking a dump on the country is the most honest thing he's ever posted." Check out some of the reactions below: Reacting to the post, former Secretary of State and Trump's Democratic opponent in 2016, Hillary Clinton, wrote: "He's definitely not mad that 7 million Americans came out to protest him yesterday..." Trump and his social media team regularly utilise AI. Trump has been portrayed as the Pope, a suspiciously jacked Jedi and even Superman. The use of AI videos and memes is his way of engaging in "memetic warfare" - a term employed by Kurt Sengul, a researcher at Macquarie University in Australia. Sengul recently spoke to Euronews Culture about Trump's use of generative AI, which allows the creation of an ecosystem where nothing appears to be serious. Trump's stance is that if you get upset, it's because you are "humourless and can't take a joke," according to Sengul. Humour notwithstanding, the outrage at Trump's recent video seems to be uniting those who affirm that "This is far beneath the Presidency."

Donald Trump mocks 'No Kings' protests with AI video of himself dropping brown sludge on protesters from jet

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Donald Trump has responded to so-called "No Kings" rallies with an AI video of himself in a fighter jet, pouring brown sludge over protesters. Millions of people were expected to take part in the demonstrations this weekend - the second such gathering after an initial nationwide day of protest in June coinciding with the US president's birthday. The term "No Kings" reflects the belief by some that Mr Trump is behaving like a "king" and some in his administration are depicting him as a monarch. On Sunday, the president shared the AI video on his social media platform, Truth Social. In the clip, an AI-generated version of Mr Trump is wearing a crown and sitting in a jet with "King Trump" written across it, to the soundtrack of Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone, from the film Top Gun. The jet then drops thick brown sludge on to AI-generated protesters. Supporters say the marches are a patriotic defence of free speech, while critics are calling them anti-American. Mr Trump's Republican Party has dismissed the demonstrations as "Hate America" rallies. Many of the events featured marching bands, huge banners and signs, as well as effigies of the president and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes. The protests follow Mr Trump's return to the White House and come against the backdrop of a government shutdown which has closed federal programmes and services. There has also been criticism of what some see as an aggressive executive, confronting Congress and the courts, in ways that protest organisers believe are a slide toward authoritarianism. So far, the atmosphere at most of the protests appears to have been largely energetic and upbeat, with protesters calling for accountability and protections for civil liberties. Organisers said events would be peaceful - a direct response to Republican and Trump administration claims that the protests could be unsafe.

Trump draws outrage for AI video of himself dumping waste on protesters

Outrage spread Monday over President Donald Trump's effort to mock the huge No Kings protests over the weekend by posting an AI video of himself dumping waste on demonstrators. Supporters of the sprawling rallies that drew millions slammed Trump for posting the 18-second clip depicting him wearing a crown and piloting a KING TRUMP warplane over some of the sprawling crowds that gathered Saturday to protest his hard-line second term in power. The phony plane was shown dumping foul brown waste on some of the throngs of people who marched through Times Square. "Anybody who would depict himself as dumping waste on the American people ... doesn't really warrant (holding) the powers of the presidency," Mike Zamore of the American Civil Liberties Union, told CNN on Monday. "It's another reflection of the lack of regard the president has for the people of this country." "The GOP can smear these protests all they want, but they can't silence the truth," tweeted Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., who participated in the Times Square rally. Musician Kenny Loggins, whose hit "Danger Zone" is used in the Trump clip, demanded that the song be removed. "I can't imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us," the "Footloose" singer said in a statement. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday accused protesters of inciting violence because some carried signs with the slogan "86 47," a euphemism for ousting Trump, the 47th president. "He's using satire to make a point," Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill. "He's not calling for the murder of his political opponents." Trump didn't immediately comment on the reaction to the video, which was created by a right-wing Artificial Intelligence meme creator. But he derided the nationwide crowds, estimated at up to 7 million people in cities and towns from coast to coast, as being unrepresentative of the country and said the rallies were bankrolled by "radical left lunatics." The White House has recently stepped up its use of AI-generated fake videos to needle political opponents. It posted a fake short video of Democratic congressional leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries wearing Mexican-style sombreros to dramatize the false GOP claim that Democrats want to fund health care for undocumented immigrants. Vice President JD Vance said the sombrero video was all in good fun. A Republican campaign committee last week used AI to create a realistic-looking video of Schumer boasting about the political impact of the government shutdown. But critics say it's no joke to depict a president attacking his constituents.

Trump posts AI video dumping brown liquid on 'No Kings' protesters

President Trump late Saturday shared on his social platform Truth Social an AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown while piloting a fighter jet and dumping brown liquid on "No Kings" demonstrators. As Kenny Loggins's song "Danger Zone" plays in the background, the jet flies over Time Square in New York City and drops what appears to be feces over protesters. Trump shared another AI-generated video, originally posted by Vice President Vance's account on the social platform Bluesky, of the president wearing a crown before a cape forms over his shoulders and he unsheathes a sword. That video ends with a clip of Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), kneeling to honor George Floyd in 2020. Schumer, meanwhile, posted photos on X of himself with demonstrators in New York City, adding that "we won't allow Trump to keep eroding our democracy." And Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) shared a post on X as a comment below Schumer's previous words about "No Kings Day." "If Trump was a king, the government would be open right now," reads a caption above a portrait of the signing of the Declaration of Independence that says, "There's already an actual 'No Kings Day.' It's on July 4th, we call it Independence Day."

Trump's AI video sparks outrage: 'Danger Zone' controversy explodes after Kenny Loggins steps in as clip targets 'No Kings' protesters

President Trump ignited controversy with AI-generated videos depicting him as a king piloting a jet and dumping liquid on 'No Kings' demonstrators. Musician Kenny Loggins demanded his song 'Danger Zone' be removed from one clip, citing its divisive nature. Meanwhile, millions participated in 'No Kings Day' protests nationwide against Trump's administration. President Donald Trump on Saturday posted an AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown while piloting a fighter jet and dumping brown liquid on "No Kings" demonstrators. This was in response to the widespread 'No Kings' protests that took place on Saturday against his second presidency. In the video, which the president posted on Saturday night, a sharply orange Trump is seen donning a gold crown and manning a plane monikered "King Trump". The video zooms away from Trump and shows the plane dumping bursts of brown matter on an AI-generated cityscape. A protester, taking a selfie video, captures the crowd being covered in the brown liquid. The last shot of the 19-second video is of protesters in what appears to be Times Square getting dumped on. ALSO READ: What is 'Group 7' on TikTok? The viral trend taking over fill your pages explained and how you can be a part of it Trump's AI video also includes a snippet from Kenny Loggins's song Danger Zone, notably used in the Tom Cruise classic Top Gun. On Monday, Loggins wrote in a statement that he didn't authorize the use of his song for Trump's video. "Nobody asked for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on the video is removed immediately," he said. "I can't imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us." Urging Americans to stay united, he went on to say, "Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together. We're all Americans, and we're all patriotic. There is no 'us and them' -- that's not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It's all of us. We're in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us." ALSO READ: Glock discontinuing most handguns except 43, 43x/48x to launch new 'V models'? Social media abuzz with rumours Trump on his Truth Social platform also shared another AI-generated video, originally posted by Vice President Vance's Bluesky account, of the president wearing a crown before a cape forms over his shoulders and he unsheathes a sword. That video ends with a clip of Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), kneeling to honor George Floyd in 2020. Schumer, meanwhile, posted photos on the social platform X of himself with demonstrators in New York City, adding that "we won't allow Trump to keep eroding our democracy." And Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) shared a post on X as a comment below Schumer's previous words about "No Kings Day." "If Trump was a king, the government would be open right now," reads a caption above a portrait of the signing of the Declaration of Independence that says, "There's already an actual 'No Kings Day.' It's on July 4th, we call it Independence Day." ALSO READ: Beat diabetes naturally: Four superfoods scientifically proven that can keep your blood sugar in check Millions of Americans on Saturday came together for No Kings Day protests throughout the US. Around 2,600 separate demonstrations targeting the Trump administration were planned across 50 states. Protests happened in small towns and large cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and New York City. The No Kings protests launched in mid-June, coinciding with the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary military parade in Washington, D.C., which occurred on Trump's 79th birthday. The latest protests came amid a battle over the ongoing government shutdown, with Democrats demanding concessions on health care and Republicans so far refusing to budge. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

Trump Literally Takes A S**t On 'No Kings' Protesters In Wild AI Video

Trump took his taunting a step further with weird artificial intelligence videos that took a swipe at his opponents. President Donald Trump has taken his weird obsession with artificial intelligence to another disgusting height -- this time in response to the millions of protesters who decried the Trump administration's policies in No Kings rallies across the U.S. on Saturday. In a late Saturday post, Trump shared a bizarre AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet with "King Trump" written on it. In the clip set to the tune of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone," a doctored Trump then dropped a whopping load of what appeared to be feces on protesters down below in the streets of Times Square in New York City. In a separate post, an AI-generated Trump wearing a crown and robe pulls out a sword as the words "hail to the king" play in the background. A slew of his left-wing political foes, including former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi then bow to him. The video was originally shared by Vice President JD Vance in a BlueSky post Saturday. Trump took his taunting a step further on Saturday with a post from the White House that juxtaposed an image of Trump and Vance sporting crowns alongside a depiction of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer donning sombreros. "We're built different," the White House captioned the post. The White House didn't immediately respond to HuffPost's request for comment. Meanwhile, many GOP leaders have labeled the protests as "Hate America" rallies while other Congressional republicans have blamed the protests for the ongoing government shutdown.

Trumpeting from skies: Trump shares AI video of spraying mud on 'No Kings' protestors

Former US President Donald Trump shared a video showing him as 'King Trump' in a fighter jet. The video depicted him spraying mud on 'No Kings' protestors. Millions participated in these protests across the US. Demonstrations occurred amid a government shutdown and political deadlock. Democratic leaders supported the protests, while some Republicans criticized them. US President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video on Sunday (local time), where he was seen piloting a fighter jet, painted with the words 'King Trump' and spraying mud all over the 'No Kings' Protestors at what appeared to be Times Square. The 19-second-clip shared on Truth Social, Trump was seen dumping mud over protestors and American social media influencer Harry Sisson, from the fighter jet. Link for the viral video The No Kings Protest saw a turnout of nearly seven million protesters, CNN reported on Sunday, citing organisers. The protests have seen turnouts from more than 2,700 cities and towns across the United States with people voicing strong opposition to US President Donald Trump's administration and policies. According to CNN, the number was higher by two million when compared to the first round of the 'No Kings Protest', which took place in June earlier this year. According to the police, the widespread rallies have been largely peaceful with no reports of incidents or arrests. CNN reported that Chicago, which stands as the epicenter of Trump's immigration crackdown, people rallied with homemade signs and "Hands Off Chicago" posters, waving upside-down American flags along with a few Mexican and Pride flags. In Los Angeles, demonstrators appeared in inflatable costumes waving American flags across the streets. While in the national capital, the current and former federal employees took to Pennsylvania Avenue on Day 18 of the government shutdown, and rallied for a calmer political rhetoric. Despite the mounting opposition, the White House on Sunday (local time), shared a screengrab on X where the US President was seen wearing the Emperor's crown. The demonstrations come at a time of heightened political tension, amid a federal government shutdown and partisan deadlock in Washington over a funding bill. Democratic leaders have largely voiced support for the protests, while many Republican lawmakers have criticised them as anti-American. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)