President Donald Trump posted dozens of AI images to his Truth Social account on Sunday. The images included references to the QAnon conspiracy theory, threats to bomb oil infrastructure in Iran, and suggestions that he’ll unlawfully try to stay in office after his term ends in Jan. 2029.
Republicans are leaning into AI slop, both at the national and state level, in the lead-up to the elections in November. But will this unhinged posting by Trump and his allies rally the base to help the party outperform expectations? Or will it freak out normal people enough to energize Democrats and lead to massive liberal turnout for the midterms?
If you scroll through the images Trump posted on Sunday, it’s hard to imagine the audience for this ugly garbage. You’ve got this AI image below, for example, depicting Trump with President John F. Kennedy. It looks like shit, obviously, in that both men are rendered with that creepy early-AI-sheen that makes neither man look photo-realistic.
Whoever originally generated the image, it wasn’t made with a top AI image generator like Google’s Nano Banana, which creates much more realistic images.
Even for the image’s flaws, at least it didn’t contain threats of violence, as they often do these days.
Other images posted by Trump on Sunday depict him personally steering U.S. Navy ships and taking control of Iranian oil tankers while cartoonishly evil Iranians in white robes jump behind him. The words “It’s our oil tanker now!” appear, making it clear what the goal of Trump’s war in Iran happens to be.
Another AI image depicts the strategically important Kharg Island in Iran being blown to smithereens by U.S. fighter jets. But if you look at the image for more than five seconds, you can see how awful it all looks. One plane appears to have two noses. Other aircraft look like alien spaceships.
Trump also posted several images that contained text reading “Trump 2028.” The president isn’t allowed to run in 2028, and his supporters often claim that he’s only joking when he talks about serving a third term. But this is the man who already tried to stay in power through a self-coup on Jan. 6, 2021. It’s within the realm of possibility that he tries to illegally remain in office.
It’s not just the president’s personal accounts posting all this AI garbage. The official White House account posted a Rick and Morty parody. Trump and his Vice President, JD Vance, are seen running at the White House before they wave to a crowd. Border czar Tom Homan arrests an alien (presumably a reference to undocumented immigrants), and Chuck Schumer takes off his mask to reveal himself to be some kind of alien-robot creature.
Hop in… best dimension yet. pic.twitter.com/7dRJnUVANc
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 27, 2026
What’s the lesson in all of this? Nothing beyond idiotic spectacle, it seems. The American people are supposed to see these videos, notice that they’re pop culture references of some kind, and believe that Trump is cool by association. It’s the rough equivalent of jangling keys in front of a dog.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has repeatedly attempted the same kind of association, posting a new video on Monday in which he’s depicted as a character in the film Blade Runner 2049.
Eat Real Food pic.twitter.com/gIznkjFY7l
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) July 27, 2026
The message might be that you should eat “real food,” it’s hard to tell, but Kennedy is clearly the star of any message he posts. It’s a strange branding exercise with the anti-vaccine activist at the center. We’re supposed to believe Kennedy is cool and any message beyond that is secondary.
Senate Republicans also posted an AI video on Saturday showing former Senate hopeful Graham Platner turning into Troy Jackson. Platner dropped out of the U.S. Senate race in Maine after sexual assault allegations were made against him (allegations he denied), and Jackson has replaced him as the Democratic candidate to take on Republican Susan Collins.
No tattoo, same crazy. pic.twitter.com/jfgTxXUNO7
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) July 25, 2026
Traditional political wisdom tells us November should be a landslide in favor of the Democrats. Midterms rarely go well for the party in power, and the Republicans currently control all three branches of government. What has the GOP accomplished since Trump returned to office in Jan. 2025?
They’ve gutted the federal government with DOGE, illegally destroying USAID and purging about 300,000 federal employees. They’ve booted more than 4 million people from food stamps, including at least a million children. They’ve started a war in Iran that they lost from a strategic standpoint after the first shots were fired, disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and jacking up gas prices for the entire world.
The result has been disastrous for the image of Republicans in this country. The latest polling from CBS News indicates that 63% of Americans believe the war in Iran is going badly and 50% say gas prices have been a financial hardship. A poll conducted last week by CBS News/YouGov shows that Trump’s approval rating is just 39%.
Despite all of that, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson doesn’t seem too worried about the midterms since he believes he literally has God on his side.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he grows more confident "with each passing day" that the GOP will retain control of Congress. Why? "This is a God thing. We have intercessory prayers who are on the ground at the Capitol praying." pic.twitter.com/bEhxKP8YJn
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) July 27, 2026
Inflation is through the roof, wages are flat, and Trump has profited from the presidency in truly historic ways. The president made $2.4 billion last year, according to Forbes, a figure so gallingly corrupt that it’s hard for anyone to believe it’s real. The question is whether Americans want to reward that kind of behavior. It might truly take an act of God to get Trump’s buddies over the finish line in November. In the absence of divine intervention, AI fantasies will have to suffice for now.