With Iran and the US teetering on the edge of a return to war, Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to post AI images of a blue-painted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, destroyed Iranian drones and numerous seemingly random pictures.
Tehran and Washington are in negotiations over Trump’s latest peace proposal, with the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route continuing to impact the global economy severely.
However, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that calls for dialogue or negotiations did not mean “surrender or retreat”, adding that the goal of the talks was to “secure the rights of the Iranian people and firmly defend national interests”.
The subjects of the US President’s flurry of posts leapt from the conflict to a UFC fight outside the White House to his plan to repaint the Washington reflecting pool “American Flag Blue”, with the New York Times on Friday reporting that the $6.9m (£5.1m) project had been given to a firm that renovated a swimming pool at his Virginia golf course.
Trump even shared a post comparing the cost to that of a renovation proposed by former president Joe Biden.
He also posted AI imagery showing drones “dropping like butterflies”, with pictures of falling drones mirrored with similar images of the winged insects.
Speaking to The i Paper, Mark Shanahan, associate professor of political engagement at the University of Surrey, said: “The imagery he’s posting is increasingly out of touch with the average American… what we’re seeing most is a butterfly mind with no filters.”
Trump has boasted about the cost of his renovations compared to those proposed by Biden (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)The controversial renovation of the Reflecting Pool
Keeping the water in the 2000ft-long Reflecting Pool clear enough to actually reflect has been a recurring issue since its construction in 1922. The pool holds about five million gallons of water and has no natural flow, so it often turns green with algae in Washington’s warm, humid summers.
Barack Obama’s administration spent more than $35m (£25.6m) trying to fix the algae issue, but to no avail. During Biden’s tenure, the pool was drained and refilled each year. Trump claimed the former president also considered a much larger renovation plan that would have taken three years and cost more than $300m (£220m), but it was never implemented.
Now under Trump, the restoration of the Reflecting Pool has become the latest in a series of personal projects. “From the Kennedy Center to Palm Beach Airport, to the Triumphal Arch and the Ballroom, Trump is obsessed by memorialism – putting his name on anything he can,” Shanahan said.
The project, which Trump originally claimed would cost $2m (£1.5m), has already sparked controversy. The company has never previously been awarded a federal contract, so the President invoked an exemption meant for urgent situations, the New York Times reported.
“This project is now being completed at ‘Trump speed’ to ensure the iconic landmark is totally restored ahead of the 250th celebrations,” said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, after Trump made a surprise visit to the pool on Thursday.
Last month, he boasted that he had “probably built more than 100 pools,” asked his “pool guy” to look at the Washington project, and was told the renovation could be done in weeks for far less than the earlier bids.
Aside from a desire to make the pool look more appealing, Shanahan suggested that the President’s latest project is also an attempt “to erase the original purpose” of the monument. “When we think of the Reflecting Pool, we think first of Lincoln and freeing the slaves. More recently, we think of Martin Luther King and the march on Washington,” he said. “With the rise of white ethno-nationalism, Trump wants to switch Americans’ view of history to a different narrative focused on white, northern European settlers.”
Trump has repeatedly mocked Iran’s drone threat, comparing them to ‘butterflies’ (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)Trump’s ‘fantasy rhetoric’ is alienating voters
The President attempted to maintain an image of American superiority with AI images of the Iranian military being decimated in his Truth Social posting frenzy, but there appeared to be a stark gap between these images and the reality on the ground.
After the butterflies image, he shared another AI picture of a US Navy ship firing lasers at what had previously been drones, accompanied by a caption reading “Bye Bye, Drones.”
Trump’s war with Iran has meant a significant increase in the cost of living for Americans (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)He later posted images of a decimated Iranian navy, as well as of himself standing on the bridge of a warship surveying a fleet of flaming Iranian vessels.
Shanahan suggested that Trump’s posts were “highlighting what he’d like to be happening rather than what actually is going on. I don’t think he’s ever been on the bridge of a warship engaged in operations and the drone and battleship imagery is fanciful.”
With the Iran war continuing to hit Americans in their wallets, Shanahan said that this will erode support for Trump.
Mark Shanahan described the Iran war images as ‘fanciful’ and ‘out of touch’ (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)“Trump has taken America into an unpopular war that has huge global financial consequences. At home, it means a much higher cost of living, from petrol prices to daily goods at the supermarket.
“Trump looks and sounds wholly out of touch with the everyday situation, and his fantasy rhetoric is grating on ever more American ears. More and more Maga voices, from Tucker Carlson to Marjorie Taylor-Greene to millions of small-town Americans, are now overtly questioning whether Trump represents what’s best for them.
“That clamour will continue to grow while the war goes on, prices remain high and the country heads towards the midterm elections. Trump isn’t on the ballot – but his brand of Republicanism most certainly is.”
Golf, UFC and another Trump enemy
Interspersed with posts about Iran and the Reflecting Pool were repeated images of a LIV Golf tournament held on Saturday at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
Trump posted seven similar-looking images of the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)Some appeared to be taken from a television screen and displayed the expansive property along the Potomac river.
Also included in the series of images was an AI image of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker gorging himself on fast food.
Included in Trump’s flurry of posts was an AI-generated image of a UFC fight outside the White House (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)The latter post appeared to be a response to comments that Pritzker made to Politico earlier this week, accusing Trump of contributing to the normalisation of political violence.
“Our political leaders set the tone in this country and I think that the President of the United States has set a tone where political violence is OK,” Pritzker said.
The image appeared to be a rebuke to Illinois governor JB Pritzker’s previous comments that Trump was contributing to the normalisation of political violence (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)Andrew Moran, a professor of politics and international relations at the London Metropolitan University, told The i Paper that Trump’s “use of AI slop to wind up his opponents, and keep faith with his followers is losing its impact.”
He added that this strategy is unlikely to help Trump in the run-up to the midterms.
On top of this, Trump’s habit of flitting between seemingly unrelated topics, both in speeches and on social media, leads to a perception that he is “operating without guard rails,” said Shanahan.
With increasing pressure being heaped on the President, both domestically and internationally, the situation is becoming increasingly fraught for an embattled Trump.
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