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.

14 fake images and videos attacking opponents

Generated by A.I.

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.

19 fake images and videos about his campaign

Generated by A.I.

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.

7 fake images and videos about his policies and administration

Generated by A.I.

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.

21 fake images or videos about himself

Generated by A.I.

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.

Two A.I.-generated images, shown side by side. The first image shows an idyllic city street with the text: “Your future under Trump.” The second shows a crowded thoroughfare with the text: “Your future under Kamala.”

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.