Trump triggers online frenzy with 'nuclear' AI image: 'God help us'

President Donald Trump sparked concern among onlookers Sunday night into Monday morning after sharing what appears to be an image created with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) depicting him launching a "nuclear strike.”

Trump has shared controversial images that appear to have been created with GenAI in the past, including last year when he shared a threatening image of Chicago, Illinois, consumed by flames, or last month when he shared an image depicting himself as a Jesus Christ-like figure. Sunday night, Trump appeared to share yet another GenAI-generated image, only this one, depicting himself hitting a large red button as a colossal explosion with a large mushroom cloud is seen hitting earth.

“F------ nutcase,” wrote Jeff Nadu, a podcast host and content creator in a social media post on X to his more than 44,000 followers. “God help us.”

Evan Jacobs, a popular online political commentator, sarcastically called it “great” that Trump – who he accused of having “dementia” – could "destroy the earth whenever he feels like it” in a social media post on X to his more than 160,000 followers.

And documentary filmmaker Armstrong Clarke, also writing on X, warned that Trump’s social media post was just the latest sign of the United States’ collapse.

“The most powerful man on earth is making movie posters about himself. We are so cooked,” Clarke wrote. “This is what happens when a 79 year old discovers [the GenAI program] Midjourney and has access to actual missiles.”