President Trump shared an AI-generated video on Tuesday night that depicted the devastated Gaza Strip as a luxurious resort bearing his name. The video quickly drew criticism, particularly from Palestinians.
The video’s origins are unclear, and Trump did not provide any commentary when sharing it on social media. Various versions of the video had circulated on platforms like LinkedIn, X, and Instagram in preceding weeks. The version posted on Trump’s account seemed to have been sourced from Rumble, a video platform based in Florida that is popular among conservatives.
The video immediately drew scorn from Palestinians, mirroring the rejection of Trump’s plan when he announced it earlier this month. That earlier proposal included suggestions of potentially displacing Palestinians en masse from the territory and asserting U.S. control.
“It’s a fantasy,” stated Ahmed al-Soufi, the mayor of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that hosts a large displaced population living in tents amid the rubble. Al-Soufi added, “If Mr. Trump wants to give Palestinians a place to live in dignity and a future, he must give them a state alongside Israel.”
The video commences with scenes of people, including those carrying firearms, navigating heavily damaged streets. It then abruptly transitions to images of development, culminating in beachside luxury. The scenes include a child holding a balloon shaped like Trump’s head, a large golden statue of the former president, and a man throwing money into the air on a beach.
The signs of AI-generated content vary in their subtlety. One scene shows a man, resembling Elon Musk, a close advisor to the president, eating bread with six fingers on one hand. Other scenes portray belly dancers with beards and green head scarves on a beach, Trump dancing with a woman at a nightclub, and Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sitting shirtless at a pool with drinks. Hamas has since condemned the video as “disgraceful.”
