WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 28: U.S. President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on day two of the State Visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the United States of America, on April 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. Their majesties are formally welcomed with a traditional military arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, the highest diplomatic honour extended by the United States to a visiting Head of State which dates back to the 18th century. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

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Joe Edwards

By Joe Edwards

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President Donald Trump shared a series of posts late Friday, including an AI-generated image depicting himself and top officials in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and others contrasting what he portrayed as the pool’s past and future appearance.

The posts come after he announced plans to renovate the Reflecting Pool, underscoring how digital imagery is being used to shape public messaging around real-world projects and political narratives.

Why It Matters

The president has frequently employed social media and AI-generated images to make political statements, using them to promote policy ideas and hit out at predecessors.

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What To Know

In one image posted to the Truth Social platform, Trump appears with a broad grin, giving a thumbs-up as he reclines on a golden inflatable lounger while floating in the iconic pool on the National Mall.

Also depicted in the AI-generated image are Vice President JD Vance, who is likewise shown giving a thumbs-up, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, while the Washington Monument rises in the background.

Other images shared by Trump late on Friday included two depictions of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool filled with clear blue water, described in the posts as “American Flag Blue.”

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Trump Takes Swipe at Former President Barack Obama

Another post placed two images of the reflecting pool side by side: the left labeled “Hussein Obama” and showed the water looking dirty and filled with algae, with a caption claiming it was taken in September 2012, while the right is labeled “Trump” and shows the same pool with clear, bright blue water, captioned “Coming Soon.”

Text accompanying the images read: “This is what our Country was before, and after, ‘TRUMP!’”

Trump announced plans in April to renovate the pool with an "American flag blue" surface, estimating a $1.5 million price tag and coming after a larger, Obama-era renovation in 2012.

He said work had been underway on the refurbishment project to clean the granite basin and apply an industrial-grade coating.

Trump’s Triumphal Arch

Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior presented updated plans last month for Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch in Washington, D.C., including a rendering of the monument.

As Newsweek reported previously, the Triumphal Arch would be a 250‑foot‑tall arch at Memorial Circle on Columbia Island, a National Park Service site at the Virginia end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial and near Arlington National Cemetery.

Previous plans indicated it would be modeled on classical European triumphal arches, particularly Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, with an ivory-colored design featuring gold accents such as large eagles and four lions at the base, topped by a winged, Lady Liberty–style figure.

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