“Trump Gaza”: What Trump’s Bizarre AI-Generated Video Means

On February 25, President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video on Truth Social and Instagram that has since garnered over 57 million views. “GAZA 2025,” reads blockish text flashing across nondescript vignettes of dystopian-esque rubble, “WHATS NEXT?” The remainder of the video is a gold-dipped reverie depicting a US owned Gaza Strip; skyscrapers rise from pristine coastlines, bellydancers (in drag, ironically) stretch in the sunshine, children tote balloons in the shape of Trump’s head, US dollars rain from the sky. Even more bizarre is the cast of characters presented in the video, from Elon Musk eating hummus to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stretched out on the beach, sipping a cocktail alongside Trump. In the background, an upbeat song promises Americanized luxury: “Donald’s coming to set you free,” the AI voice proclaims. “Trump Gaza shining bright, golden future, a brand new light. Feast and dance, the deed is done. Trump Gaza, number one!”

This follows a statement Trump made during a joint press conference with Netanyahu on February 4, during which he proposed that the US should “take over” the Gaza Strip and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” which would violate international law and the civilian population’s right to self-determination. According to Trump, this plan includes the forced deportation and relocation of 2 million Palestinian citizens to neighboring countries with a no-return policy for the displaced; in practice, this would violate the Geneva Conventions, which the US and Israel have ratified. Trump has threatened to withhold aid to Egypt and Jordan if they refuse displaced Palestinians. Netanyahu has called this proposal “revolutionary and creative,” although it has been met with global backlash.

“Implementing the US proposal would shatter the most fundamental rules of the international order and the United Nations Charter since 1945, that the US was instrumental in creating to restore peace after the catastrophic Second World War and Holocaust. It would return the world to the dark days of colonial conquest,” UN experts stated on February 11. The video was met with an overwhelmingly negative reaction, even from the president’s supporters: “As a trump supporter, horrible post,” wrote one commenter. “Donald we didn’t vote for this. Don’t piss us off,” said another. Wassel Abu Yousuf of the Palestine Liberation Organization called the video a “clowning gimmick,” while director-general Ismail Al-Thawabtah, of Gaza’s Government Media Office, stated to CNN: “By portraying Gaza as if it were a land without a people, this desperate attempt aims to legitimize the ongoing ethnic cleansing carried out by the Israeli occupation with clear American support.”

US support for the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has indeed been robust, both before and after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Israel has long been the top recipient of US foreign aid, having received about $310 billion in economic and military assistance since its founding in 1948. In his first term as president, Trump made several moves against Palestine: in 2017 he put a hold on the $221 million in aid that President Obama had attempted to send to the Palestine Authority, for example, and halted funding for the UN agency (UNRWA) responsible for Palestinian refugees. The Biden Administration expressed its staunch support of Israel in funding, if not in words: despite the Israeli army’s violation of numerous international humanitarian laws—from its indiscriminate attacks on civilians to its restrictions on access to humanitarian aid—the Biden administration gave at least $25.9 billion in military aid to Israel following the October 7 attack, even as it called for a ceasefire. Since taking office in January, Trump has announced an arms deal with Israel worth approximately $7.5 billion.

Among US citizens, however, ideological support for Israel’s occupation has waned in recent years. 53% of Americans expressed a lack of confidence in Netanyahu as a leader in 2024, and only 41% have a favorable view of the Israeli government. Among young Americans, these statistics are even more stark: a third of adults under 30 expressed that their sympathies lie with Palestinian people, as opposed to the 14% who sympathize more with Israel, and student protests in support of Palestine have occurred on roughly 140 college campuses.

To implement Trump’s proposal to conquer the Gaza strip, as expressed in his February 4 press conference and illustrated in sickening detail in the AI-generated video, would go against the wishes of most Americans, violate numerous international laws, risk the implementation of the ceasefire-hostage deal and would certainly raise the already-considerable death toll in Gaza, which now stands at over 48,000. Such a takeover is likely impossible: it would require the support of multiple Arab countries that would not offer it, and the U.S. has already stated that it would not pay for the reconstruction of the Gaza strip. The proposal also assumes that Palestinian citizens would willingly accept the terms of their own displacement, or otherwise put up an insubstantial fight; both of which have been proven wrong by their tenacity over the past 16 months.

Trump’s sharing of AI-generated content, as well as his partnership with Big Tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, heralds an eerie new era of governmental partnership with the technology industry. Among Trump’s initial slew of executive orders was a number of rollbacks on AI protections, including the repeal of Biden’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. Trump then issued an executive order which required the Office of Management and Budget to reconstruct their directive on federal uses of AI, which has led to federal agencies removing AI guidelines from their websites.

The video posted by Trump was generated by Solo Avital and Ariel Vroman, co-founders of EyeMix Visuals, which implements AI into promotional media for its clients. Atival and Vroman said the video was a product of experimentation with the generative AI software Arcana, but were unsure how Trump discovered the pilot project; Vromen indicated that Mel Gibson (appointed special ambassador to Hollywood), who EyeMix Visuals shared an early version of the video with, may be responsible given his closeness with the president.

Alarming as President Trump’s social media presence and speeches on Palestine may be, the public reaction to his tirades may be a sign that even his base is beginning to question the necessity of his crueler policies; if not, Trump will nonetheless face relentless opposition elsewhere, from U.S. citizens as well as the international community. “All countries who care about human rights and the international rule of law should resolutely oppose the US President’s illegal threats,” OHCHR responded to Trump’s takeover proposal. “The world must never again accept a lawless world dominated by brute force that endangers us all.”