US President Donald Trump sparked widespread controversy after publishing a series of posts on his “Truth Social” platform, which included pictures and expressive scenes suggesting the destruction and sinking of Iranian naval ships, as part of his ongoing media escalation against Tehran following the recent war between the two sides.
In one post, Trump claimed that 159 ships belonging to the Iranian Navy during the terms of former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden “turned into sunken ships” during his presidency, referring to what he described as “the American military victory over Iran.”
Trump also published another photo in which he appeared on board an American ship, watching what appeared to be attacks on naval ships, in a scene that carried a clear propaganda and military character.
According to media reports, most of the photos published by Trump, with the exception of the first photo, appear to have been generated by artificial intelligence techniques, which sparked a wave of interaction and criticism on social media sites, especially with the absence of any official or military documentation confirming the authenticity of these scenes.
These publications come in the context of the escalatory rhetoric adopted by Trump since the end of the recent military confrontation with Iran, as he previously announced that the United States “achieved a military victory” against Tehran, considering that the Iranian Navy received a “severe blow” during the war.
Trump said in previous statements that Iran “used to have 159 ships, but they are now sunk at the bottom of the sea,” without providing precise details or official military data to support this number.
These publications have reopened the debate about the use of artificial intelligence in political and military propaganda, especially with global political figures increasingly relying on digitally generated images to influence public opinion or amplify political messages.
Trump’s move also reflects the continuing media and political tension between Washington and Tehran, despite the ongoing international efforts to revive negotiations related to ending the war and the Iranian nuclear program.
