By: Brenna Tichy
Over the past few weeks, President Donald J. Trump’s Instagram has gained a mass following, and Gen Z is watching. From images of him as a king and AI-generated dystopian realities in Gaza to ASMR immigrant deportation videos, his new posts are not just controversial; they are racking up millions of views especially from a younger audience.
On Feb. 19, the official White House Instagram account posted images, including one fake Time magazine cover depicting Donald Trump in a bedazzled crown, followed by the president’s words, “Long live the king.”
“Can you imagine if Biden or Obama posted [these] photos” Michelle Christine, an Instagram user who amassed over 112,000 likes, commented. “Articles of impeachment for treason would be immediate…This is not funny — and should be extremely alarming to everyone.”
The same day, three journalists from the Sunday Morning news came to speak at the UMD to prospective journalists about the state of broadcast news in the U.S. at the start of the new Trump term. While all coming from different networks: Dana Bash at CNN, Kristen Welker at NBC, and Shannon Bream at FOX, all three agreed with Bash’s assessment of the drastic change in journalistic practices seen between the Biden and Trump administrations.
“The differences are night and day,” Bash said. She continued by commenting that journalists have gone from a president who avoided the media and held very few press conferences to a president who has seemed to embrace it through mass ultra-controversial tweets.
As generations continue to move over to smaller screens, so too, it seems, will political leaders as a part of a huge marketing strategy. By targeting a younger audience, Trump and his team are trying to guarantee continued support for future elections to come.
It does not stop there. Trump’s official page shared an AI-generated “Trump Gaza” video featuring golden Trump Statues, money raining down around Elon Musk in a utopian version of the war-torn Gaza, and ending with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lounging shirtless by a pool, sipping cocktails.
“A joke,” one supporter, Molly Barth, defended. “Not everything presidents say is official executive order, hun.”
However, most people, including some die-hard Trump supporters, have made a startling backtrack, finding the post to be insensitive to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and most finding it to be outright disturbing.
“Mr. Trump, Gaza is not an AI simulation. We are real people, with real suffering,” one outraged user, Ahmed Nafez, said in response. “Will you stand for justice, or just use us for political points?”
Despite the overall feeling toward the clip, it is fair to say that with over 2.1 million shares, 634,000 likes, and 67,000 comments on Instagram alone, this post has captured the attention of social media.
Another popular Trump post is an ASMR-style video captioned, “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight” which displayed the sounds of detained immigrants being shackled and escorted onto planes. The video, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), mimicked the viral ASMR formula which helped pull in lots of attention.
“I don’t understand why he’s doing this,” Cassidy Shelley, a freshman criminal justice major, said. “He is turning this country into a laughing stock.”
Many others have started to question Trump’s motives, considering his recent win in the 2024 election. One explanation is that his social media team has realized that Gen Z and newer generations thrive on fast-paced viral media, particularly controversial and shocking news. By using clickbait-inspired content, they are meeting young voters where they already are, online.
By engaging with posts like these, even negatively, Trump’s online presence will continue to grow larger. Ultimately, all press is good press.