President Donald Trump posted a 90-second AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform late on 2 July, depicting himself as a physician diagnosing prominent Hollywood critics with what he calls “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS). The clip, released ahead of the Independence Day weekend, shows a deepfake Trump in a white lab coat offering a “treatment plan” before cutting to synthetic versions of actors Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts, Edward Norton, and John Leguizamo, as well as television hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell. Each AI-created figure describes personal distress attributed to the fictitious condition, after which the presidential avatar prescribes turning off “fake news,” praying, and drinking Diet Coke to “see a remarkable difference in your life.”

Viewed from Washington, the video reinforces a long-standing rhetorical tactic in which Trump and his supporters dismiss political opposition as a psychological affliction. The term TDS, an evolution of the “Bush Derangement Syndrome” coined by commentator Charles Krauthammer in 2003, has been used by the president to characterise criticism as irrational. During a May White House event, Trump asserted he had heard TDS “is actually a disease.” The new clip weaponises that framing by having AI-generated celebrities appear to endorse his cure, a format that mimics direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising familiar to American audiences.

The post is the latest in a series of AI-generated content shared by Trump that has drawn rebuke even from within his own party. In April, he deleted an image portraying himself as Jesus Christ after it triggered outcry from Republican officials and the Vatican; he later shared another AI image of himself embraced by Jesus. In February, a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes was removed following accusations of racism from Republican Senator Tim Scott. Analysts in London note that the pattern suggests a deliberate strategy of using synthetic media to bypass traditional gatekeepers and energise his base, while normalising deepfake technology in political communication.

International media coverage has focused on the video’s provocative use of celebrity likenesses without consent. Outlets in the Middle East and Latin America highlighted the satirical treatment of well-known figures, while Russian state-leaning media framed it as a “joke treatment course” for political opponents. No legal challenge has yet been announced by the actors depicted, though US publicity-rights law could provide grounds for action. The video remains accessible on Trump’s platform, and his aides have not indicated whether further AI-driven content is planned as the 2026 midterm campaign season approaches.