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A now viral photo of President Donald Trump using a walker has circulated on social media, prompting many to wonder if it’s real.
Is the photo of Trump using a walker real?
The photo is AI-generated and was shared Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Democratic strategist Keith Edwards, according to Newsweek, and has since garnered about 11 million views.
“BREAKING: an image has leaked showing Trump using a walker moments after he signed an executive order banning states from regulating AI,” Edwards wrote.
The photo was in response to Trump’s newly signed executive order supporting AI
The photo seems to have been created in response to Trump’s Thursday executive order that limits states’ ability to oversee the popular technology tool, Newsweek reported.
Trump has previously shared AI-generated images on his social platform and appears to support their use. Critics argue the order would block states from protecting residents and instead would benefit tech companies.
After the photo quickly circulated on X, users pointed out that it was AI-generated. Other versions depicting Trump with a walker, including an image depicting a gold walker and a video of him using a walker, were also shared.
How would the executive order block statewide AI laws?
Trump signed the executive order in support of AI technology, while stripping states of the right to manage it.
“To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” the order stated. “But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative.”
During the Oval Office signing ceremony, Trump explained why AI companies want to do business in the United States.
He said they “want to be in the United States, and they want to do it here, and we have big investment coming. But if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it,” per Newsweek.
Trump also stated that he would withhold broadband funding from states whose AI laws are preventing U.S. progress.
“We have to be unified,” Trump said, according to NPR. “China is unified because they have one vote, that’s President Xi. He says do it, and that’s the end of that.”
Some Trump supporters have criticized the order, emphasizing that limiting states’ control of AI technology could be potentially harmful.
“Even if everything is overturned in the executive order, the chilling effect on states’ willingness to protect their residents is going to be huge because they’re all now going to fear getting attacked directly by the Trump administration,” Adam Billen, vice president of Encode, a nonprofit focused on child safety and threats posed by AI, said in a statement obtained by NPR. “That is the point of all of this — it is to create massive legal uncertainty and gray areas and give the companies the chance to do whatever they want.”
