President Donald Trump has amplified a self-styled mythical persona through artificial intelligence-generated memes, presenting an image of singular power while facing persistent challenges with inflation and international policy. These digitally crafted images often depict Trump as a superhero, a formidable athlete, or a military commander, contrasting with the tangible difficulties his administration faces.
One meme visualized Trump as the Green Lantern, wielding the character's ring to construct a border wall and erect factories. Another showed him in a hockey uniform overshadowing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, while a third portrayed him on a naval ship bombarding an enemy fleet. This tactic has become a significant part of Trump's communication strategy, particularly as midterm elections loom, a period when congressional Republicans are heavily reliant on his ability to energize the base.
While the White House has previously defended such memes as humorous and criticized detractors as lacking a sense of humor, the gap between these fantastical portrayals and current realities has become increasingly apparent. Polling indicates that a majority of U.S. adults are dissatisfied with Trump's handling of the economy and view the engagement in Iran as not worthwhile. Despite these concerns, Trump's social media output features these outlandish images of omnipotence.
Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist, suggested that while these posts might energize Trump's core "Make America Great Again" supporters, they do not address pressing economic issues like inflation. "The voters who are likely to determine control of Congress in the midterms are not going to be won over with memes," Madden stated. "The affordability voter is driving this election cycle and the issues they care about are anchored in the economy."
The administration has also created other digital content, including video games. Kaelan Dorr, a member of the White House communications team, recently posted on social media, "The memes will continue. The winning will continue."
However, voters are forming opinions based on everyday experiences. Rising gasoline prices, averaging $4.15 a gallon—a nearly 30% increase from the previous year—and concerns about the president's health and vitality, fueled by images of bruised hands or videos of him appearing to doze off, are also shaping perceptions. White House officials have attributed the bruising to frequent handshaking and aspirin use, while denying he has fallen asleep in meetings.
This strategy of using idealized imagery echoes approaches from previous administrations. For instance, President Joe Biden's White House embraced a meme depicting him with laser eyes, intended to project focus and power.
Andrew Bates, a former deputy press secretary for Biden, commented that Trump's memes appear to be an avoidance of governing responsibilities, potentially alienating voters who perceive the president as more focused on symbolic gestures than on substantive policy achievements. "When a president who ran on bringing gas prices under $2 a gallon is now saying, ‘You’re at four dollars, it’s OK,’ it unfortunately makes sense that he’s also posting fever dreams," Bates said.
Trump's use of memes has not been without controversy. In April, he posted an image of himself as Jesus, which caused consternation, with Trump later claiming he believed it depicted him as a doctor. In February, a racist video of Barack and Michelle Obama was posted from his account, later deleted after backlash. Last October, a video was shared showing Trump in a fighter jet dumping feces on protesters.
Despite the high volume of meme production and dissemination, these efforts have not demonstrably improved his overall approval ratings. A July AP-NORC poll indicated that only 33% of U.S. adults approve of his job performance. The poll also noted that just 15% of U.S. adults strongly approve of his presidency, a slight decrease from 22% shortly after he took office.