At a time when the backlash against AI is growing and even his own administration is wary of serious regulatory oversight of the industry, President Donald Trump is doubling down on what can only be described as AI gaffes—this time involving questionable deepfakes.
On July 1, President Trump posted an AI-generated video depicting himself as “Dr. Trump,” a doctor in a white coat proposing a “treatment plan” for “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a phrase he and his supporters have long used to attack his critics.
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The clip begins like a pharmaceutical ad, with an AI-generated Trump wearing a stethoscope and telling viewers there is a plan to cure TDS. Then fake versions of celebrity critics such as Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts, Rosie O’Donnell, Edward Norton, and John Leguizamo appear, appearing as “patients” and describing their supposed symptoms and recovery.
The fake De Niro could not eat or sleep and was “always angry,” he said. Fake O’Donnell said he had been “suffering for over 10 years.” Fake Goldberg describes himself as a lost cause. The clip ends with President Trump’s AI persona prescribing a combination of media criticism, prayer, and Diet Coke.
Social media outside of Trump’s MAGA supporters was not amused.
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This isn’t President Trump’s only bizarre interaction with AI this week. On Wednesday, the president visited the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, and interacted with an AI version of Roosevelt.
The library, which opens to the public on July 4, allows visitors to view President Roosevelt’s letters, speeches, photographs, and other archival materials. All of this material can also be viewed through a lifelike AI version of the former president, created in collaboration with Microsoft.
During the visit, President Trump asked AI Roosevelt whether the Panama Canal was his greatest accomplishment. A digital President Roosevelt said the canal was one of his proudest accomplishments, but also pointed to parks, health care, and the Square Deal.
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President Trump later told the audience that he “had a conversation with President Theodore Roosevelt,” a comment that went viral before the clip was released and revealed that he was referring to the library’s AI exhibit. But not everyone was convinced.
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It’s all part of a broader pattern of President Trump’s social feeds frequently featuring AI-generated images and videos.
Earlier this week, President Trump shared what appeared to be an AI image of a giant golden eagle mounted on the Truman Balcony at the White House, calling it the “Golden Gift of the White House’s 250th Anniversary.” The “gift” was also shared on the White House’s official social media accounts.
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The image’s metadata suggested that it was actually created with Google Gemini. Photos taken later that night did not show the kind of giant golden bird attached to the White House that people generally notice.
Social media users wondered why the eagle’s shield appeared to contain 11 stars instead of 13. Others ridiculed the design as “ugly” and questioned the caption. This is because 2026 is the 250th anniversary of American independence, not the 250th anniversary of the construction of the White House (completed in 1800).
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In April, President Trump posted and later deleted an AI-generated image showing a Jesus-like figure healing a sick man. Following backlash from conservative and religious figures including Riley Gaines, Megan Basham and Bishop Robert Barron, Trump said he believed the image depicted him as a health care worker who “makes people better.” He has previously posted an AI image of himself as the Pope.
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President Trump also shared videos and images generated by AI in more stylized or exaggerated roles. In May, Trump went on a rampage, posting more than 20 mostly AI-generated images and clips in about 90 minutes, including images targeting Barack Obama, Gavin Newsom, Hakeem Jeffries and JB Pritzker.
Another AI-generated video shared in June and produced by Trump-backed House candidate Anthony Constantino depicted Trump as a globe-trotting hero, with scenes of him riding a lion, appearing on Mount Rushmore, riding a camel and appearing as the beloved Japanese character Naruto.
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The Naruto-style images added to an existing backlash from fans of Japanese anime and manga, with about 20,000 people signing a petition titled “Save Japanese Manga” in March, protesting the White House’s use of images from Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto, and other series in political posts.
According to the petition, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already contacted the U.S. Embassy in Japan regarding the unauthorized use of Yu-Gi-Oh! And Nintendo’s image.
In other words, AI is part of President Trump’s online presence. Not in any serious policy-based sense, but as a tool for memes, self-promotion, political attacks, and spectacle.
We’ll see if that helps Team Trump in the 2026 midterm elections. But with the president’s approval ratings at an all-time low and the AI polls not looking very good, it’s hard to see how such shoddy usage can do anything other than entertain his most fervent fans.
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