Long before Donald Trump’s second term, his social media presence defied the typical presidential tone. President Trump consistently used the social media platforms at his disposal to candidly express his most intrusive thoughts. These thoughts included inappropriate comments about women and threats to world leaders. One of Trump’s most infamously controversial social media posts was in January of 2021, after which he was banned from Twitter for content that incited political violence at the January 6th riots. Just over a year later, in February of 2022, President Trump launched his own social media platform, Truth Social, which he marketed as a “free-speech” alternative to other platforms. Since 2022, Donald Trump has relied on Truth Social to post nearly every day on a variety of topics. His posts regularly use artificial intelligence (AI), extreme language, and a uniquely angry tone to create an online presence meant to intimidate those who disagree with him.
While President Trump’s social media presence has always had an assertive undertone, his social media posts have dialed up in intensity since the start of his second term. His colorful language and random, often grammatically incorrect use of capital letters and exclamation points have become more exaggerated, giving his social media posts a distinctly angry and frantic tone. In many of President Trump’s posts, he uses cruel language to describe his democratic opponents, such as referring to New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” on Truth Social on June 25th, 2025. Trump’s social media posts read more like angry internal monologues than statements from the President of the United States, which is troubling in a political climate that has been rapidly polarized over recent months.
President Trump’s use of AI to create deepfakes of high-profile political figures that he disagrees with, including a Truth Social post containing AI images of former President Barack Obama and former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes in prison jumpsuits on July 20th, or most recently a racist post on Truth Social depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on September 29 is not only unethical, but also extremely unpresidential. Using AI to create fake content of political adversaries with the intent to damage their public image violates presidential norms. His actions should alarm politicians both in the U.S. and around the world. However, because of President Trump’s history of outlandish social media use, the United States is collectively under-reacting to the seriousness of a sitting U.S. president using AI as a tool for corruption.
Some of the most disturbing AI-generated content President Trump has shared this year includes a September 6th post of himself on the cover of the film Apocalypse Now, a July 10th post depicting himself as Superman, and a disturbing video of his personal vision for Gaza shared on February 26th. All of these posts represent the growing worry that AI content will further polarize the political climate and spread to people vulnerable to propaganda.
In a Truth Social post last month, President Trump accidentally posted a private message meant for Attorney General Pam Bondi. The message called on her to take action against three of his most prominent political adversaries. Once again, President Trump’s reckless use of social media highlights that the United States is under the rule of a president who wants his audience on social media, and presumably the world, to see him as a powerful, far-right ruler.
The above examples are only a few recent instances of President Trump’s inappropriate use of social media and AI. While those who are acclimated to the intolerant nature of social media and the growing presence of AI tend to downplay the severity of such rhetoric from the President of the United States, President Trump’s social media usage has irreparably damaged political discourse. President Trump’s words on social media actively worsen polarization in the United States, which has intensified exponentially since January 2025. The unprofessional tone of President Trump’s posts also significantly undermines the respect that political leaders in the United States and abroad tend to associate with one of the most powerful offices on the planet. In a social media atmosphere where misinformation already spreads rampantly, the President’s use of AI content to attack political adversaries is unacceptable.
Moving forward, it is imperative that President Trump and his advising team turn down the temperature on his social media posts, and they must immediately cease to post any AI content. It is also important that Trump’s accounts take accountability for any relationships that have been severed due to Truth Social posts. President Trump must focus on using social media as a tool to build communities and spread unifying messages rather than using it as a weapon to attack opponents and spread misinformation.
As President of the United States, President Trump is doing a major disservice to the American people by using social media and AI to spread hate and sow division. The nature of President Trump’s posts break the precedent of decorum that his predecessors have long maintained. For the remainder of 2025, instead of continuing to ramp polarizing messages up, President Trump must use social media as a platform to promote de-escalation.
