> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.europeans.today/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # King, pope, Jedi, Superman: Trump’s social media images exclusively target his base and try to blur political reality - URL: https://www.europeans.today/2025/10/21/king-pope-jedi-superman-trumps-social-media-images-target-his-base/ - Published: 2025-10-21T00:13:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-10-22T02:50:50.000Z - Description: Donald Trump’s White House turns politics into spectacle, blending propaganda and entertainment to rally a disaffected base, deepen polarisation, and normalise authoritarian-style communication that undermines democratic norms and civic trust. - Author: Professor Andrew Rojecki - Tags: US Politics, Trump 2.0, Propaganda, Analysis, Populism, Right-Wing Populism, National Populism, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media & Far-Right, US Democracy, Instagram, Political Communication, Rhetoric, Online Propaganda, Donald Trump, Trump Administration 2025, Political Polarization, Democratic Backsliding, Truth Social, United States **What you need to know** 🔹 The Trump White House uses theatrical, AI-enhanced social media to dramatise political messaging. 🔹 Its communications deliberately appeal to disaffected, mostly white, working-class, conservative supporters. 🔹 Entertainment replaces diplomacy, amplifying division, fear, and resentment rather than unity or dialogue. 🔹 Such propaganda mirrors authoritarian styles, eroding trust, polarising citizens, and weakening democracy. A grim-faced President Donald J. Trump looks out at the reader, under the headline “[LAW AND ORDER](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1122862342994299&set=a.355689506378257).” Graffiti pictured in the corner of the White House Facebook post reads “Death to ICE.” Beneath that, a photo of protesters, choking on tear gas. And underneath it all, a smaller headline: “President Trump Deploys 2,000 National Guard After ICE Agents Attacked, No Mercy for Lawless Riots and Looters.” The official communication from the White House appeared on Facebook in June 2025, after Trump sent in troops to [quell protests](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/07/us/la-immigration-raid-protests?ref=europeans.today) against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Los Angeles. Visually, it is melodramatic, almost campy, resembling a TV promotion. ![A Facebook post with the words 'Law and Order' at the top, a photo of President Trump and messages about ICE.](https://images.theconversation.com/files/691734/original/file-20250918-66-n6iuu2.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip) A June 2025 Facebook post from the White House. | [WHITE HOUSE FACEBOOK](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=710208695191221&set=pcb.710210048524419) The post is not an outlier. In the Trump administration, White House social media posts often blur the lines between politics and entertainment, and between reality and illusion. The White House has released AI images of [Trump as the pope](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1918502592335724809?lang=en&ref=europeans.today), as [Superman](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1943493150644777199?ref=europeans.today) and as a [Star Wars Jedi](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1919053040734072844??ref=europeans.today), ready to do battle with “Radical Left Lunatics” who would bring “Murderers, Drug Lords … & well-known MS-13 Gang Members” into the country. Most recently, on the weekend of the *No Kings* protests, both Trump and the White House released a video of the president wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet, from which he [dispenses faeces onto a crowd](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115398251623299921?ref=europeans.today) of protesters below. Underpinning it all is a calculated political strategy: an appeal to Trump’s political base – largely white, working-class, rural or small-town, [evangelical and culturally conservative](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-flag-and-the-cross-9780197618684?cc=us&lang=en&&ref=europeans.today). [As scholars](https://tanjaaitamurto.com/?ref=europeans.today) [who study communication](https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/andrew-rojecki/?ref=europeans.today) in politics and the media, we believe the White House’s rhetoric and style is part of a broader global change often found in countries experiencing increased polarization and [democratic backsliding](https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2023.2234831?ref=europeans.today). ### White House style In the past, national leaders generally favored a professional tone, whether on social or traditional media. Their language was [neutral and polished](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811987116?ref=europeans.today), laced with political jargon. While populist political communication has become more common along with the [proliferation of social media](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1328522?ref=europeans.today), the communication norms are further altered in Trump White House social media posts. They are partisan, theatrical and exaggerated. Their tone is almost circuslike. The process of governing is portrayed as a reality TV show, in which political roles are performed with little regard for real-world consequences. Vivid color schemes and stylized imagery convert political messaging into visual spectacle. The language is colloquial, down-to-earth. Just as other influencers in a variety of domains might create an emotional bond by tailoring [social media](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/18175/3702?ref=europeans.today) messages, content, products and services to the needs and likes of individual customers, the White House tailors its content to the beliefs, language, and worldview of Trump’s political base. In doing so, the White House echoes a broad, growing trend in [political communication](http://doi.org/10.1177/13548565241260486?ref=europeans.today), portraying Trump as “a champion of the people” and using direct and informal communication that appeals to fear and resentment. Trump White House social media makes no effort to promote social unity or constructive dialogue, or reduce polarization – and often heightens it. Undocumented immigrants, for example, are often portrayed as [inherently evil](https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/the-snake-poem/?ref=europeans.today). White House social media amplifies dramatic, emotionally charged content. In one video, Trump recites a poem about a kind woman [who takes in a snake](https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/the-snake-poem/?ref=europeans.today), a stand-in for an immigrant who in reality is a dangerous serpent. “Instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite,” Trump recites. ### Talking to the base While [some scholars](https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323116682802?ref=europeans.today) have called the White House social media style “amateurish,” that hasn’t resulted in change. The lack of response to negative feedback is partially explained by the strategic goal of these communications: to appeal to the frustrations of Trump’s [deeply disaffected political base](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/the-billionaire-candidate-and-his-blue-collar-following/432783/?ref=europeans.today), which seems to revel in the White House social media style. Scholars [identify](https://amzn.to/42TUIMV?ref=europeans.today) a large number of these voters as “the precariat,” a group whose once-stable, union-protected jobs have been outsourced or replaced with [low-wage, insecure service work](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055421000022?ref=europeans.today). These workers, many former Democrats, can no longer count on a regular paycheck, benefits or work they can identify with. As a result, they are more likely to support political candidates whom they believe will respond to [their economic instability](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055421000022?ref=europeans.today). In addition, many of these voters blame a breakdown in what they perceive as the racial pecking order for a loss of social status, especially when compared with more [highly educated workers](https://doi.org/10.2307/1388607?ref=europeans.today). Many of these workers distrust the media and other elite institutions they feel have failed them. Research shows that they are highly receptive to messages [that confirm their grievances](https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323118760317?ref=europeans.today) and that many regard Trump as [their champion](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718155115?ref=europeans.today). Trump and the White House social media play to this audience. On social media, the president is free to violate norms that [anger his critics](https://time.com/7225608/white-house-valentines-day-social-media-post-illegal-immigration-backlash/?ref=europeans.today) but have [little effect](https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417749632?ref=europeans.today) on his supporters, who view the current political system as flawed. One example: A White House Valentine’s Day [communication](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/style/white-house-deportation-memes.html?ref=europeans.today) that said “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and we’ll deport you.” In addition, Trump and the White House social media use the president’s status as a celebrity, coupled with comedy and spectacle, [to immunize](https://doi.org/10.14318/hau6.2.009?ref=europeans.today) the administration from fallout, even among some of its critics. Trump’s exaggerated gestures, over-the-top language, his lampooning of opponents and his use of caricature to ridicule whole categories of people – including [Democrats](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/09/29/congress/trump-ai-video-deepfake-schumer-jeffries-00586048?ref=europeans.today), [the disabled](https://www.politico.com/video/2017/01/donald-trump-mocks-disabled-reporter-061897?ref=europeans.today), [Muslims](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/15/short-history-president-trumps-anti-muslim-bigotry/?ref=europeans.today), [Mexicans](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/01/trump-racist-deepfake-video-jeffries-schumer?ref=europeans.today) and [women](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-worst-offensive-comments-quotes/?ref=europeans.today) – is read by his political base as a playful and entertaining [take down](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/style/trump-officials-social-media.html?ref=europeans.today) of political correctness. It may form a sturdy pillar of his support. But prioritizing entertainment over facts has long-term significance. Trump’s communication strategies are already setting a [global precedent](https://theconversation.com/why-brazils-bolsonaro-is-following-trumps-pre-election-playbook-177863?ref=europeans.today), encouraging other politicians to adopt similar theatrical and polarizing tactics that distort or deny facts. These methods may energize some audiences but risk alienating others. Informed political engagement is reduced, and democratic backsliding is increasingly a reality. Although the communication style of the White House is playful and irreverent, it has a serious goal: the diffusion of ideological messages whose intent is to create a sense of strength and righteousness among its supporters. In simple terms, this is propaganda designed to persuade citizens that the government is strong, its enemies evil, and that fellow citizens – “real Americans” – think the same way. [Scholars observe that](https://www.jstor.org/stable/43664158?ref=europeans.today) the White House projection of the often comical images of authority echoes the visual style of authoritarian governments. Both seek to be seen as in control of the social and political order and thereby to discourage dissent. The chief difference between the two is that in a deeply polarized democracy such as the U.S., citizens interpret these displays of authority in sharply different ways: They build [opposition among Trump opponents](https://doi.org/10.1017/S153759272400272X?ref=europeans.today) but support among supporters. The rising intolerance that results erodes social cohesion, undermines support for democratic norms and weakens trust in institutions. And that opens the door to democratic backsliding. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2021/09/end-flat-1.png) ### **GOING FURTHER** - ###### [Information, doubt, and democracy: how digitization spurs democratic decay](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2023.2234831?ref=europeans.today) | DEMOCRATIZATION - ###### [Examining long-term trends in politics and culture through language of political leaders and cultural institutions](https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1811987116?ref=europeans.today) | PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. U.S.A. - ###### [Examining Communicative Forms in #TikTokDocs’ Sexual Health Videos](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/18175/3702?ref=europeans.today) | INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION - ###### [Define the populist political communication style: the case of Italian political leaders on Twitter](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1328522?ref=europeans.today) | INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY - ###### [Behind-the-scenes of the parliament: Influencer genres and political authenticity on Swedish politicians’ YouTube channels](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548565241260486?ref=europeans.today) | CONVERGENCE: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH INTO NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES - ###### [Twitter as arena for the authentic outsider: exploring the social media campaigns of Trump and Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0267323116682802?ref=europeans.today) | EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION - ###### [The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class](https://amzn.to/42TUIMV?ref=europeans.today), by Guy Standing | BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING - ###### [Gone For Good: Deindustrialization, White Voter Backlash, and US Presidential Voting](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/gone-for-good-deindustrialization-white-voter-backlash-and-us-presidential-voting/B647DC5EE8CE52562B09797E6D5AF37E?ref=europeans.today) | AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW - ###### [The disinformation order: Disruptive communication and the decline of democratic institutions](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0267323118760317?ref=europeans.today) | EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION - ###### [Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote](https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1718155115https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1718155115?ref=europeans.today) | PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. U.S.A - ###### [The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue: Proclaiming the Deeper Truth about Political Illegitimacy](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122417749632?ref=europeans.today) | AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW - ###### [The hands of Donald Trump](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.14318/hau6.2.009?ref=europeans.today) | HAU: JOURNAL OF ETHNOGRAPHIC THEORY - ###### [Propaganda as Signaling](https://www.jstor.org/stable/43664158?ref=europeans.today) | COMPARATIVE POLITICS ### --- #### **Sources:** ###### ▪ This piece was originally published in [The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/king-pope-jedi-superman-trumps-social-media-images-exclusively-target-his-base-and-try-to-blur-political-reality-259950?ref=europeans.today) and re-published in Europeans TODAY on 21 October 2025\. | The authors write in a personal capacity. ###### ▪ **Cover:** Dreamstime/[Korwen](https://www.dreamstime.com/korwen%5Finfo?ref=europeans.today). --- ![The Conversation](https://counter.theconversation.com/content/259950/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic)