Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images
Most of us know the basic rules of gift-giving: (1) Clearly convey what the present is for. (2) Try to find something the recipient wants. (3) Do not spoil the surprise by posting an inaccurate, AI-generated rendering of the gift on a social-media feed followed by millions of people.
Okay, the last one isn’t that basic. But apparently, it needs to be said, as last night, Donald Trump suggested on Truth Social that America is getting a gaudy gold eagle affixed to the White House for its 250th birthday:
Or did he? Here are some of the problems with this “Golden Gift”:
Logically, it’s a present to the nation to mark America’s 250th birthday. But the caption says it’s a gift “to the White House for its 250th Birthday Year,” though the building is only 234 years old.
The White House social-media account reposted Trump’s message verbatim with no clarification.
Presumably, there are supposed to be 13 stars for each of the original colonies, but this image only shows 11 stars.
While it looked like Trump was unveiling a new addition to the White House, CNN reported that the image “has content credentials in its metadata that indicate it was created with Google AI.” Freelance photographer Andrew Leyden shared a photo shortly after Trump’s message was posted showing that the Truman Balcony is still eagle-free.
Sure, this is probably supposed to be the bald eagle, America’s national bird. But if people are hotly debating whether your new decor looks more like the Russian coat of arms or the Nazi eagle, you should probably rethink your design decisions.
Is it from the Republican Party? Amazon? Vladimir Putin? If we’re going to be prominently displaying someone’s “Golden Gift” on one side of the White House, we should probably know whose generosity we’re showing off.
Right now, this eagle is just one of the many weird images Trump has posted to Truth Social (earlier on Monday, he shared a painting of George Washington chilling with a humanoid robot). But these things have a tendency to become reality. Last year, he posted a fake portrait of Joe Biden as an autopen on Truth Social, and six months later, the Rose Garden had a new “Presidential Wall of Fame” with a framed picture of an autopen signing Biden’s name.
The only person who wants to see gold on every available surface of the Executive Mansion is Donald Trump. This golden-eagle image isn’t really a “gift” at all. It’s a threat that after doing this to the Oval Office …
Photo: Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage/Samir Hussein/WireImage
… He’s coming for the White House exterior next.