A Star Wars-themed post by the White House featuring an AI-generated image of Donald Trump wielding a red lightsaber quickly turned into a viral meme fest. Shared on May 4th to celebrate "Star Wars Day," the image showed a heroic, muscled Trump flanked by bald eagles but ironically, the red lightsaber traditionally symbolizes Star Wars villains like Darth Vader.

The post's caption slammed Trump's political opponents, calling them "the Empire," further fueling the mockery. Social media users ridiculed the post, calling it a “self-own” and questioning the professionalism of official communications.

Critics pointed out the awkward symbolism of portraying Trump with a villain's weapon, while defenders argued for patriotic reinterpretations of the image. This follows a series of controversial AI-generated posts from the White House, including one showing Trump dressed as the Pope, raising concerns about the use of AI in presidential messaging.