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The FBI arresting Barack Obama in the Oval Office. The devastated Gaza Strip turned into a luxury seaside resort. Donald Trump as the next Pope<\/a>, a jedi<\/a>, Superman<\/a> or in Sydney Sweeney\u2019s American Eagle jeans<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you have been online in recent months (chronically or no), chances are that you have come across these AI-generated images.<\/p>\n More often than not, the images are not only posted by obscure social media accounts with 12 followers but also by the president and his closest allies. <\/p>\n Even the White House\u2019s official accounts, which are passed down from one administration to the next, are joining in. <\/p>\n Under Trump 2.0, American government officials and institutions have adopted a communication style that heavily relies on AI-generated comedic visuals and often diverts pop culture to ridicule political adversaries and marginalised groups.<\/p>\n As a result, the Donald Trump has become the world\u2019s troller-in-chief.<\/p>\n Desensitise, demonise, dehumanise<\/p>\n In the lead-up to the 2016 US presidential election already, humour emerged as a strong bonding agent in online alt-right communities.<\/p>\n Memes like Pepe the Frog became rallying symbols for a political fringe that found its messiah in Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Sophisticated generative AI models have now taken meme production one step further. They offer a myriad of new possibilities \u201cto create manipulated and fictional content to target political enemies,\u201d Kurt Sengul, a researcher at Macquarie University in Australia, tells Euronews Culture.<\/p>\n Preferred objects of mockery include women, the LGBTQ+ community, racial minorities and immigrants. Researchers found that AI-generated visuals depicting members of these marginalised groups attempt to demonise and dehumanise them. <\/p>\n Immigrant men tend to be portrayed as scary monsters while women see their weight and age-related features distorted in a traditionally unattractive fashion. <\/p>\n \u201cHumour can be a way of disciplining and alienating those who are seen as Others\u201d, says Sengul, whose research focuses on the political communication of far-right populism.<\/p>\n In March, the White House\u2019s official X account announced the arrest of alleged undocumented immigrant Virginia Basora-Gonzalez.<\/p>\n The account later shared a Ghibli-style AI-generated image<\/a> of Basora-Gonzalez crying while in handcuffs. <\/p>\n The move prompted outrage. \u201cThis is far beneath the Presidency,\u201d one X user wrote in a post liked 4,000 times.<\/p>\n However, many Trump supporters loved it. <\/p>\n \u201cWhoever runs this account deserves a raise,\u201d, one person wrote, while another posted: \u201cThis is phenomenal. If you’re here illegally, this can happen to you. Don’t come here illegally. Don’t be the next cartoon!\u201d<\/p>\n Why so serious?<\/p>\n While the Trump administration entertains its base with fictionalised content, real policies unfold. <\/p>\n During his 2024 campaign, Trump said he would carry out \u201cthe largest mass deportation in US history.\u201d Thousands of people have been deported since January 2025, some to countries that are not their own and where they face potential human rights abuses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe arrests will continue. The memes will continue,\u201d White House press aid Kaelan Dorr wrote on X shortly after Basora-Gonzalez\u2019s arrest. <\/p>\n \u201cThe key ingredient to this online soup is extremism: from nativism to racial science to casual neo-Nazism and textbook misogyny,\u201d Nathan Taylor Pemberton wrote in a recent column for the New York Times.<\/p>\n Generative AI is the latest tool that allows Trump\u2019s anti-woke<\/a> visual humour to go always further while creating an ecosystem where nothing is serious. If you get upset, it\u2019s because you are \u201chumourless and ‘can\u2019t take a joke’,\u201d Sengul explains. <\/p>\n