Donald Trump knows the power of an image – of himself, with everyone from Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un to Kim Kardashian. How about George Washington?
As the US president struggles to end his war with Iran, and with his approval ratings hitting the lowest levels of his second term, he has in recent weeks posted a series of AI-generated images of himself alongside key historical American figures.
Facing tough questions over reports of poor living conditions and morale aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln following its record-breaking deployment, and his efforts to reach a deal with Tehran, Trump has repeatedly turned to his Truth Social platform to post images apparently designed to bolster his legacy.
Earlier this month, he posted an AI image of himself and Washington standing side by side in what appears to be an imagining of Trump’s completed White House ballroom. A minute later, he posted three more AI pictures of himself and Washington in the ballroom. In one image, they’re looking into the middle distance; in another, Trump is holding a piece of paper and pointing at the ceiling.
Trump wasn’t done. The next day, he posted an AI image of himself and Washington sitting at a table, holding quills over what appears to be a map. Three minutes later, he posted an image of the pair on horseback – Washington on a white horse, Trump on a black horse. There was no caption on either.
Still, it was Sunday’s post that was the most striking: a video that showed Washington and Trump walking through the ballroom, taking turns to point to the ceiling as if appraising the room’s construction.
“I think part of the reason he’s posting it is because it ties in with this deeper sentiment that he has that he is on par with, or even potentially better than, George Washington,” said Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of Media Matters, a non-profit media watchdog organization.
“He’s trying to basically be a founder,” added Carusone. “And AI gives him the ability to project his imagination out into the world.”
The Guardian asked the White House whether Trump, ۸۰, thought he had actually met with Washington, who died more than ۲۰۰ years ago. A spokesperson did not directly address the question, but responded: “Truth Social is the most powerful and popular social media platform in the world [sic] because it serves as President Trump’s authentic voice, where he communicates directly with the American people [sic] and the world without the biased media taking him out of context.”
“Every day in Washington DC the city changes and gets more Trump-branded,” Carusone said. “That is the analog to Washington: there are all these things named after him, but that happened posthumously. With Trump, it’s almost like he’s building a living mausoleum.”
Trump’s ballroom has at times appeared to be among his main interests during his second term. The president has openly admitted he wants the ballroom to serve as a “legacy project”, and when the going gets tough, this seems to be a topic to which he retreats.
There is evidence, too, that Trump wants to secure a legacy that sees him not just as an accomplished ballroom builder, but as a successful wartime leader.
Trump has also posted an AI image showing him wearing a military uniform, flanked by second world war generals George Patton and Douglas MacArthur on a battlefield. In the image, two tanks appear to be on fire in the background, and Trump, who has received a generous AI glow-up, has six rows of medals on his chest – more than Patton and MacArthur are shown with combined.
