President Donald Trump’s administration has increasingly shared imagery created or altered with artificial intelligence through official channels, prompting concern from misinformation and media literacy experts about the effects on public trust in government communication.

Critics have focused in particular on a doctored image circulated on social media that showed civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong appearing to cry after her arrest, an alteration that was not disclosed as synthetic and was amplified through White House accounts.

The image, and others like it, have been shared alongside animated visual memes and AI-enhanced content related to politically sensitive events, including protests and law-enforcement actions.

Experts in information science and media studies argue that when credible institutions disseminate manipulated imagery without clear labels, it can blur the distinction between real and fabricated content, eroding confidence in official sources of information.

Some observers note that certain AI-generated or edited graphics may be interpreted as humorous by segments of the online audience but can mislead others who are less familiar with the technology.

Scholars such as Michael A. Spikes of Northwestern University and Ramesh Srinivasan of the University of California at Los Angeles have said that government entities bear a particular responsibility for accuracy in communication and that unlabelled synthetic content, even if called a “meme” by officials, risks deepening institutional distrust.

They highlight that advances in AI image and video generation have made manipulated media increasingly realistic and harder for the average viewer to recognise, underscoring concerns about where consumers of political information can find reliable content.

In response to criticism, some White House staff have defended the use of AI-produced visuals as part of broader engagement strategies, asserting that such content can resonate with online communities.

Supporters within the administration argue that these approaches are designed to energise base audiences familiar with internet culture.

Nonetheless, experts maintain that the spread of synthetic media by official sources complicates efforts to maintain a shared understanding of factual events and may contribute to a broader climate of scepticism toward public institutions.