Donald Trump released an AI-generated video Thursday that casts him as a physician treating celebrity opponents for a made-up condition, the latest in a series of synthetic media posts that have defined much of his social messaging this year.
The video, shared across social platforms, features deepfake versions of prominent critics including Rosie O'Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Julia Roberts. In the fabricated footage, these AI renderings express regret over their public opposition to the president, describing symptoms like insomnia and constant anger before receiving Trump's fictional cure.
Dressed in a white coat and stethoscope, an artificial Trump diagnoses the patients with "Trump Derangement Syndrome," or TDS, a term he and his allies have long used to dismiss critics as irrational. The video prescribes a simple treatment: avoiding news outlets, prayer, and drinking Diet Coke.
O'Donnell, who has been a frequent Trump critic, responded with her own diagnosis. "He's quite ill and getting worse daily," she said in a statement, calling for his removal under the 25th Amendment and impeachment.
The White House framed the post as protected political speech. Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, said the video was Trump's "right" to share and doubled down on the TDS framing. "Trump Derangement Syndrome is a crippling disease that has unfortunately rotted the brains of many people," Ingle said. The office did not confirm whether it had sought consent from any of the actors whose likenesses appeared in the deepfake.
Trump's embrace of AI-generated content has accelerated throughout his recent tenure. In March, he shared an image depicting himself as Jesus healing the sick, which he deleted after outcry from Christian leaders who called it blasphemous. He has also posted himself as the Pope, as a crowned king on a fake Time magazine cover, and in February released a racist video portraying Barack and Michelle Obama as primates, which he refused to apologize for after removing it.
The synthetic media posts reflect a broader trend of politicians and public figures testing the boundaries of deepfake technology for political messaging, even as lawmakers and tech platforms debate how to regulate such content.
Author James Rodriguez: "The doctor-treats-the-patients bit is pure performance art for the base, but it signals how comfortable Trump has become wielding AI to mock his enemies without consequence."
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