President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video Wednesday night casting himself as "Doctor Trump," a physician offering a mock treatment plan for six left-wing celebrities he framed as suffering from "Trump Derangement Syndrome." The video, styled as a parody pharmaceutical ad, featured AI-rendered likenesses of Rosie O'Donnell, John Leguizamo, Whoopi Goldberg, Edward Norton, Robert De Niro, and Julia Roberts, each delivering scripted testimonials about their fictional recovery.

The move is the latest in a growing pattern of the president and his administration using AI-generated imagery as a weapon of political communication, a tactic that delights supporters and infuriates critics in roughly equal measure.

Breitbart News reported on the video, which opens with an AI depiction of Trump in a doctor's role delivering a direct pitch to viewers:

"Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with TDS? The symptoms can be relentless. Fortunately, I'm Doctor Trump, and I have a treatment plan."

From there, the video cycles through its cast of celebrity "patients," each confessing, in AI-generated voice and likeness, to years of obsessive anti-Trump fixation. The format borrows directly from late-night pharmaceutical ads, complete with testimonial cadences and soft-focus sincerity.

The celebrity lineup

The AI version of O'Donnell, whose public feud with Trump stretches back more than a decade, says she has "been suffering for over a decade" and can now "see some results" after listening to Doctor Trump. The AI Leguizamo claims he "really didn't believe there was help out there" until stumbling on the video.

Goldberg, the co-host of The View, gets the AI treatment too. Her scripted character says she "really thought I was a lost cause" but "after using the treatment plan, I can see a difference."

Norton, whom Breitbart described as once widely regarded as one of the standout actors of the 1990s, appears via AI likeness to say his "work has slowed down" and that he is "hardly recognizable anymore." The AI De Niro confesses to being unable to eat, sleep, or stop making "everyone miserable around me." And the AI Roberts laments feeling like she has "aged 20 years in the last two years."

None of these are real statements by the named individuals. Every line is scripted for the AI-generated parody. None of the six celebrities had publicly responded at the time of the report.

The prescription

The video's punchline lands in a mock treatment recommendation from AI Trump:

"The treatment is simple: Turn off fake news. Say your prayers. And if you ever feel anxious, just have a Diet Coke, like me, and you're going to see a remarkable difference in your life."

It is a characteristic bit of Trump showmanship, equal parts self-promotion, cultural jab, and media savvy. The president has long understood that poking at Hollywood's most vocal progressive voices generates enormous attention, and AI tools have now given him a new medium for doing it.

This is not the first time Trump has leaned into AI-generated visuals. He previously teased a Mount Rushmore addition with an AI video during an America 250 celebration, and he has shared other AI-generated content on social media that drew wide attention.

A broader pattern, and a broader debate

The celebrity-mocking video arrives against a backdrop of growing debate over the White House's use of AI-altered and AI-generated imagery. AP News reported that the official White House account posted an AI-altered image of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong appearing to cry after her arrest, an image based on an original photo posted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. When critics objected, White House deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr responded by stating "the memes will continue." Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson also mocked the pushback.

Misinformation experts quoted by AP News raised concerns about the practice. Northwestern University professor Michael A. Spikes warned that "the government should be a place where you can trust the information" and that sharing such content "is eroding the trust we should have in our federal government to give us accurate, verified information."

Media literacy content creator Jeremy Carrasco put it more bluntly: "It's going to be an issue forever now. I don't think people understand how bad this is."

Those concerns are worth taking seriously in contexts where the government presents altered imagery as factual documentation. But a parody pharmaceutical ad mocking Rosie O'Donnell and Robert De Niro is a different animal. No reasonable viewer mistakes a fake drug commercial starring AI celebrities for a government intelligence briefing.

The distinction matters. When the White House alters a photo of a real arrest to change a subject's expression, it raises legitimate questions about official credibility. When the president shares an obvious comedy bit lampooning his loudest critics, the stakes are rather lower.

Trump has also shared AI-generated tribute videos on Truth Social that drew wide notice online, establishing a clear pattern of the president embracing AI as a tool for political messaging and cultural commentary.

Hollywood's long war on Trump

The six celebrities featured in the video have something in common beyond fame: each has spent years making their opposition to Trump a centerpiece of their public identity. De Niro has delivered profanity-laced denunciations at awards shows. Goldberg has used her platform on The View to attack the president regularly. O'Donnell's feud with Trump predates his political career entirely.

That sustained hostility is precisely what makes the "TDS" framing land with Trump's base. The joke works because the targets have, in many cases, allowed their opposition to Trump to overshadow their professional work, a point the AI Norton underscores when his scripted character admits his "work has slowed down."

Whether or not one finds the video funny, it reflects a real dynamic. Hollywood's most politically active figures have spent nearly a decade promising that their outrage would move public opinion against Trump. He won the presidency twice. Their influence on actual electoral outcomes remains, to put it gently, unproven.

The controversy also arrives during a period of broader tensions involving the administration and questions about image authenticity. A recent dispute over a fabricated photo claim involving Italy's Prime Minister Meloni showed how quickly image-related disputes can escalate into diplomatic friction.

The real question

The debate over presidential AI use will not end with this video. Serious people can disagree about whether official government accounts should share altered images in any context. But the pearl-clutching over a comedy sketch mocking celebrities who have built second careers out of denouncing one man misses the point.

Trump's critics in Hollywood have spent years demanding the public take their political opinions seriously. The AI video simply asks: why? The celebrities depicted have no policy expertise, no electoral mandate, and no accountability for the positions they advocate. They have microphones and fame, and now, thanks to AI, they have a president willing to use their own medium against them.

The president, in his characteristically unfiltered style, has shown he is willing to speak bluntly about allies and adversaries alike when the moment calls for it. The celebrity video is lighter fare, but it carries the same instinct: refuse to let your opponents set the terms of engagement.

The AI depiction of Trump closes the video with a line that doubles as self-aware humor: "I really wasn't sure I could help some of these people. They were so far gone, I wasn't really sure."

If six of Hollywood's most outspoken Trump critics are upset about being turned into AI punchlines, they might consider the simplest remedy available: stop giving the president material to work with.