(AFP, Washington) Since beginning his second term, US President Donald Trump has significantly increased his use of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content on the social media platform Truth Social, becoming the first administration to make highly realistic fake visual content a core communication strategy.
On social media, Trump portrays himself as a king, Superman, and a fighter pilot, while depicting political opponents as criminals or laughingstocks, using this self-promotion to attack critics.
Last month, Trump released an AI video showing himself wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet, dumping feces on protesters on the ground; in July, the White House website posted a photo of Trump transformed into Superman, praising him as a "symbol of hope"; Trump has also posted fake images of himself wearing papal robes, roaring beside a lion, and conducting an orchestra at Kennedy Center.
It is unclear whether these AI images were generated by Trump himself or his aides, and the White House has not responded to media requests for comment.
Wired magazine recently called Trump "America's first generative AI president." Benavides, a senior lawyer at the media advocacy group Free Press, said, "Trump spreads disinformation online and offline to enhance his image, attack opponents, and control public opinion. For someone like him, unregulated generative AI is the best tool to attract public attention and distort facts."
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Trump has used AI-generated videos to smear political opponents and critics. For example, in July, he released a fake video showing former President Obama arrested and imprisoned in the Oval Office; another spoof video added a mustache and a Mexican hat to Democratic House Leader Jeffries, who is African American, an act suspected of racial discrimination.
The AI-generated videos released by Trump are remarkably realistic, with some netizens even asking in the comments section whether the videos are real.
Tucker, co-director of the Center for Social Media and Politics at New York University, pointed out: "Trump has repeatedly shown that he treats his term as a non-stop political campaign… His actions are less an attempt to mislead people into believing these videos are real and more a preference for campaign propaganda through spoofs."
