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Here he is, depicted at six months in office, chiseled and brawny, as mighty as the very nation. Here he is as a Star Wars Jedi wielding a patriot-red lightsaber, rescuing our galaxy from the forces of evil. Here he is taking over Gaza, transforming the strip into a luxury resort complete with a golden effigy of himself. You can be anything, perhaps you were told growing up. Doctor. Astronaut. Maybe, one day, the president. But even the chief executive of the United States, the free worlds leader, frames himself as something more epic as someone not entirely himself. On the social media accounts of Donald Trump and his second-term administration, a new, less official image of the president is emerging bit by bit: one generated artificially. A sign of the times, certainly when the appeal of reimagining yourself with artificial intelligence has trickled up from us everyday citizens. Bored with your selfies? Join a viral trend: Theres an image generator or a chatbot that can turn you into a Renaissance-style painting, a Studio Ghibli character, or an action figure with box art and accessories. Artificial imagery isnt new for Trump, an early target of AI-generated simulacra who later exploited the technology during his 2024 campaign for the presidency. It works both ways, the Republican president said of AI-generated content at a news conference earlier this month. If something happens thats really bad, maybe Ill have to just blame AI. The AI images of Trump posted by him and his team opt for the alternative not deceptive but self-evident in their fictitiousness. Pope Francis dies, and Trump jokes to reporters that hed like to be pope. A week later, he is, but in an AI-generated image that he posts, reposted by the White House. Trump likens himself to a king in a Truth Social post in February, and AI makes him one in an X post by the White House less than an hour later. The artifice arrives in Trumps usual style brassy, unabashed, attention-grabbing and squares with his social media teams heavy meme posting, which it has promised to continue. The administrations official social media accounts have grown by more than 16 million new followers across platforms since Inauguration Day, a White House official told NBC News. The White House recognizes the appeal. In July, it posted to its X account: Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we cant post banger memes. Attached to the post, a photo of a sign on the White House lawn parodying the naysayers: oMg, diD tHe wHiTE hOuSE reALLy PosT tHis? Behind the commander in chiefs desire to craft an AI self not itself uncommon an infantry of official communications channels stands at his ready. And we, the people, cant help but tune in. Feelings dont care about your facts Like so much on the internet these days, Trumps AI portraits are primed for people to react, says Evan Cornog, a political historian and author of The Power and the Story: How the Crafted Presidential Narrative Has Determined Political Success from George Washington to George W. Bush. By the time youve seen it, youve understood it. And thats, of course, the efficacy, Cornog said. It requires no effort, either for the person generating it, but particularly for the person consuming it. The expressive power of political imagery, regardless of the truth of its message, has long been understood by politicians and their detractors. President William Henry Harrisons log cabin and hard cider campaign symbols, representing him as a man of the people, helped him win the election of 1840. Thirty years later, political cartoonist Thomas Nast would turn public opinion against William Marcy Boss Tweed with his scathing portrayals of the politician, whom he depicted satirically overweight from greed. Lets stop those damned pictures! Tweed once said, or so the story goes. The decades since witnessed the birth of photo, film, TV, the internet, computer printers, image-editing software and digital screens that shrank until they could fit in our pockets, making it increasingly easy to create and disseminate and manipulate imagery. By contrast, todays generative AI technology offers greater realism, functionality and accessibility to content creation than ever before, says AI expert Henry Ajder. Not to mention, of course, a capacity for endless automated possibility. Past presidents had to actually have fought in a war to run as a war hero, Cornog says. Now, they can just generate an image of themselves as one. On a horse or no, a battlefield. With an American flag waving behind him and an eagle soaring. The AI images of Trump shared by him and his administration chase a similarly heroic vision of the president. Potency his and the countrys is a consistent theme, Cornog added. Indeed, generative AI allows for an exposure of perhaps uncomfortably intimate inner worlds as people use such technology to illustrate and communicate their fantasy lives or cartoonish versions of themselves, says Mitchell Stephens, author of The Rise of the Image, the Fall of the Word. But it can just as easily fulfill an inverse desire: to depict or reinforce a subjective concept of reality. Quite a lot of people are sharing AI-generated content, which is clearly fake but is almost seen as a revelatory kind of representation of someone, Ajder said. This content feeds a mentality that mutters, We all know theyre really like this. And so, even if people know its fake, Ajder said, they still see it as kind of reflecting and satisfying a kind of truth their truth about what the world is like. Commenters take up the mantle The lack of subtlety in Trumps AI images of himself helps explain their consistent virality. Commenters can be found lamenting the demise of presidential decorum (I never thought Id see the day when the White House is just a joke. This is so embarrassing.) or relishing those very reactions (Watching the left explode over this has been a treat.). Other responses, even from the presidents base, remain unconvinced (as one X user griped under the White House post of Trump as pope: I voted for you, but this is weird and creepy. More mass deportations and less of whatever this is.). But that is tradition for Trump, who finds no trouble cashing the currency of our attention economy: Whether you cracked a smile or clutched your pearls, he still made you look. In his first administration, he used Twitter in a way no president had, said Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, an organization that facilitates the transition between presidents. What they do in this administration is taking it further, as youve had an increase in what can be done online. Or, as one Reddit user referred to the president: Troll in Chief. Does Trump really think he should be pope? Does the White House really think him a king? Accuracy isnt the point, not for a man who frequently arbitrates what counts as truth. Trump’s use of AI sticks to a familiar recipe for bait: crude comedy sprinkled with wishful thinking. Its fine, Trump said in May, when asked whether the AI-generated post of him as pope diminished the substance of the official White House account. Have to have a little fun, dont you? Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
On September 25, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol informed his employees in a public memo that the company would be cutting 900 corporate roles and closing down stores. However, the memo didnt share exactly how many stores would close and where theyre locatedleaving employees scrambling to compile that information on their own. Starbucks is framing the restructuring as a part of Niccols broader Back to Starbucks plan, a sweeping initiative designed to return Starbucks to its heyday in the mid-2010s. That includes redesigning store interiors, rethinking menus, and making the ordering experience feel less transactional. As of right now, Starbucks is still on shaky financial ground, facing a six-quarter streak of same-store sales declines. It appears that the new job and store cuts are intended to set Starbucks up for the next phase of Niccols turnaround plan. During the review, we identified coffeehouses where were unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we dont see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed, Niccol wrote in his recent memo. While Niccols letter shared a broad sense of the reasoning behind the move, it skirted around giving exact figures on store closures, only noting that employees would be informed within the week if their location is shutting down. For employees, thats meant gathering on Reddit forums, shared spreadsheets, and Google Maps to figure out just how many coffeehouses are closing down. How many Starbucks locations are closing? In his note, Niccol wrote that, our overall company-operated count in North America will decline by about 1% in fiscal year 2025 after accounting for both openings and closures, adding that the company will end the fiscal year with nearly 18,300 locations in the U.S. and Canada. However, given that the 1% number accounts for both openings and closures, its unclear exactly how many stores are actually closing. Reached for comment by Fast Company, Starbucks declined to share details about the fate of specific locations. It said customers were informed via emails and signage and that the Starbucks app has already been updated to reflect the closures. Given this uncertainty, employees are taking the tabulation into their own hands. In the subreddit r/Starbucks, several threads discussing the closures have amassed hundreds of comments from employees and customers. Moderators of the subreddit have begun directing users to update a shared Google Sheet with confirmed closures. As of this writing, the document contains over 520 locations across the U.S. Redditors are also actively compiling the spreadsheets results into a map format that designates each store by its status in Starbucks union. Starbucks did not provide a comment on the accuracy of the list, and its important to note that this is an active, crowdsourced document. However, many of the stores indicated on the spreadsheet have disappeared from Starbucks’ store locator tool or are marked permanently closed on Google. Starbucks Workers United, a union that represents baristas at some locations, referred Fast Company to a statement it released last week in the wake of Niccol’s announcement. The statement opens by claiming that things are only going “Backwards at Starbucks” under Niccol’s leadership. “Yet again, were experiencing new policies and major decisions being made with zero barista input,” the union wrote. “Workers United is sending a formal request for information to Starbucks about the planned closures. We expect to engage in effects bargaining for every impacted union store, as we have done elsewhere, so workers can be placed in another Starbucks store according to their preferences.”
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E-Commerce
Burger King is getting into the Halloween spirit. The fast food chain just introduced its first-ever Monster Menu to kick off spooky season. According to a news release, the vamped up menu will drop on Sept. 30. “BK fans have come to expect something spirited from us during the Halloween season, and each year we try to bring even more fun to families, said Joel Yashinsky, chief marketing officer, Burger King US&C in the release. Yashinsky continued, This year, weve dialed up the fun and flavor, not only with our Monster Menu line-up complete with themed menu innovation, packaging and a special crown, but also with collectible buckets and Scooby-Doo toyscreating even more experiences for everyone. The menu will feature Halloween-themed twists on fan-favorites, such as the Jack-o-Lantern Whopper, which comes on a bright orange bun topped with black sesame seeds, Vampire Nuggets which come in the shape of fangs, Mummy Mozzarella Fries, and a Franken-Candy Sundae. Of course, there’s a special-edition meal just for kids coming too. The King Jr. Meal, featuring Vampire Nuggets is coming, too, along with a line-up of spooky collectible toys. To make the Monster Menu drop even more exciting, guests can also leave BK with a limited-edition Monster Menu-inspired Halloween Bucket, but not until starting October 13. BK is not the first fast food brand to get in on spooky season. McDonald’s announced it will bring back its Boo Buckets and its Halloween-themed menu this year, too. Wendy’s also introduced Wednesday-inspired Meal of Misfortune, as well as a Frosty Frights Kids’ meal. Last year proved to be a big one for brands sinking their teeth into Halloween. Even businesses like Chipotle and Bush’s Baked Beans had a case of the seasonal scaries, as they sold costumes of their own beloved food itemsmany of which even turned out to be popular selections for the scariest day of the year.
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