White House Weaponizes AI Slop to Get an Edge in Shutdown Fight

As congressional leaders and the White House remain deadlocked in negotiations to end the government shutdown, a striking new player has entered the conversation — artificial intelligence.

President Donald Trump shared a series of AI-generated posts on social media this week, deepfaking himself, White House officials, and top Democrats since the government shut down Wednesday. The president has wielded the innovative technology as a key messaging tool in his shutdown strategy, largely in attempts to mock his political foes — even when it at times contradicts more traditional messaging from his party.

The latest clip shared by Trump portrays Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as the Grim Reaper, and warns Democrats, shown as babies, that he “wields the pen, the funds.” The clip appears to go against Republican leaders’ prior assertions about Vought being “heartbroken” over having to propose mass layoffs across the federal workforce.

The president has also repeatedly shared clips depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) with a mustache and sombrero, appearing to signal he supports health care for undocumented immigrants. Trump shared the posts mocking Jeffries shortly after a White House meeting with the congressional leaders of both parties.

Trump has heavily leaned into AI-generated content for messaging since he took office and during his campaign. The administration has embraced the technology and also directed federal agencies to adopt new chatbots and tools aimed at increasing efficiency and productivity in their workflows.

Some policy analysts and strategists say the technology can be an effective communication tool.

Republicans are “strategically taking advantage” of AI, said Kevin Frazier, an AI innovation and law fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. The Trump administration has used AI for messaging aggressively, while Democrats have been more wary of the new technology, he said.

However, many Democrats have also relied on the technology as a messaging tool. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) this week posted several AI-generated images of Trump and Vance, appearing to troll them.

Yet not everyone has welcomed Trump’s deepfake shutdown posts. Democrats have slammed the president over his edited images of Jeffries, with the Democratic leader labeling them as “racist”. Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have brushed off the posts. Johnson himself was the target in an AI clip this week, showing him as one of Trump’s “minions”.

Three days into the shutdown, little progress has been made to strike a deal between Democrats and Republicans. The Senate will vote for the fourth time Friday on the GOP proposal for a short-term funding bill and a Democratic counterproposal, but both measures are expected to fail. The Senate will leave for the weekend following the votes and return next week, along with the House, which was in recess this week.