In the wake of protests and tensions in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the White House posted an AI-edited image showing a protester seemingly weeping while being arrested. The protester, a woman named Nekima Levy Armstrong, was one of three arrested in connection to a protest that interrupted church services in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The original image, posted by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, showed that Levy Armstrong was not crying and appeared calmer.
What Happens When the White House Uses AI Images?
President Donald Trump has used images generated or edited by artificial intelligence (AI) on many occasions since the beginning of his second term. Most of these instances have been “memes,” including AI-generated videos mocking his political opponents or painting him as royalty.
Kaelan Dorr, an official in the White House communications department, wrote on X, “YET AGAIN to the people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country I share with you this message: Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
However, some have raised concerns that digitally altering images of a real person and real news event is a departure from the more obvious or outlandish uses of AI from the White House.
When Has Trump Used AI?
Poynter (Center bias) reported on at least 14 instances of AI imagery from official White House accounts since the beginning of Trump’s second term. The outlet identified at least 36 instances of AI use on Trump’s personal Truth Social account. Several of note include:
- In February 2025, Trump shared a video to Truth Social depicting an AI-generated future version of Gaza featuring exotic dancers, money raining from the sky, luxury hotels, and more.
- Also in February 2025, the official White House account shared an AI image to X depicting Trump wearing a crown with the caption, “LONG LIVE THE KING!”
- In October 2025, following the No Kings rallies, Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself flying a fighter plane that was dumping excrement on protesters.
- Trump posted in September, two days before the most recent government shutdown began, an AI video mocking Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), who was depicted wearing a sombrero and generated mustache.
How is the Levy Armstrong Image Different?
AllSides didn’t find any sources on the right that reported on the White House’s altering of the Levy Armstrong photo. Many left-rated sources suggested the edited photo was problematic.
PBS News (Lean Left) wrote that the “edited — and realistic” image of Levy Armstrong is “raising new alarms” that the Trump administration is “blurring the lines between what is real and what is fake.” PBS alleged in its headline that this edited image “further erodes public trust.” PBS cited professor of information science at Cornell University David Rand who said that the doctored arrest image seems “much more ambiguous” than the other obviously cartoonish images Trump has shared in the past.
New York Times (Lean Left) noted that the digitally altered photo could end up hindering the Justice Department’s case against Levy Armstrong, as Levy Armstrong’s lawyers could argue that the post was an improper extrajudicial statement. The Times also argued that “Levy Armstrong’s lawyers could also claim that the photo was evidence that the Justice Department bore some sort of animus against her and filed the charges vindictively.”
Both The Guardian (Left) and New York Times noted that Levy Armstrong’s skin appears to have been darkened in the edited image.
MS Now (Left) opinion writer Zeeshan Aleem (Left) wrote that the Trump administration has “crossed yet another line in its assault on democracy.” Aleem argued that this is the “first widely circulated manipulated image…that passes convincingly as a real photograph,” calling it “a new frontier in propaganda.”
Forbes (Center) reported that the image of Levy Armstrong was “not the first time an image shared by the Trump White House has led to questions about whether the photo was genuine or not,” referencing an image of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro the White House shared shortly after American strikes in the country.
Forbes reported that some members of the public questioned the photo “amid a flood of ‘deepfake’ images” that purported to show Maduro in US custody.
Was the Image a ‘Meme,’ or Something More?
To some, digitally-altering images from real news events represents a more dangerous form of misinformation than the obviously-AI images Trump typically posts. On the other hand, the White House has maintained the stance that this post was nothing more than a meme.
AI continues to proliferate within the world of news media and politics, and debates will surely continue about how politicians, public figures, and media outlets should use it while maintaining integrity and public safety.
Read more about how AllSides uses AI technology transparently to deliver a balanced news digest.
Written by Emily Allen, News Editor. She has a Left bias. Reviewed by Henry A. Brechter, editor-in-chief (Center bias) and Johnathon Held, News Analyst (Lean Right).
