AI-generated 'golden gift' for White House's 250th anniversary

US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) shared what appeared to be an AI-generated image depicting a giant golden bald eagle mounted on the White House's Truman Balcony, describing it as "a Golden Gift" to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States. Posting the image on Truth Social, Trump wrote, "A Golden Gift to the White House for its 250th Birthday Year!" The image shows a gold-coloured bald eagle with its wings stretching across the balcony's columns and a stars-and-stripes shield fixed to the front of the Truman Balcony. The White House later reposted the image on its official X account, signalling its endorsement of the President's post.

Image appears AI-generated

The image does not appear to be an actual photograph, CNN reported. The network noted that a comparison with the real Truman Balcony shows noticeable differences in the architectural details of the railing. It also pointed out that the shield in the image contains only 11 stars instead of the traditional 13 stars representing the original American colonies. The image's metadata includes content credentials indicating it was created using Google AI. Freelance photographer Andrew Leyden also posted photographs on X that he said were taken at around 9:30 pm (local time) after Trump shared the image, which showed no golden eagle attached to the White House balcony.

Latest in a series of White House redesigns'

The AI-generated concept comes as Trump continues to make visible changes to the White House during his second term. Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has introduced several gold accents throughout the Oval Office, installed large challenge coin-style medallions across the West Wing and White House residence, remodelled the Rose Garden, erected large flagpoles on the North and South Lawns, and ordered the demolition of the East Wing to make way for a new White House ballroom.

Follows unveiling of commemorative US passport

The social media post also comes days after Trump unveiled a redesigned limited-edition US passport to commemorate America's 250th anniversary. Sharing the design on Truth Social last week, Trump wrote, "The USA's New Passport, which says, 'Welcome, but be good!'" The commemorative passport features an image of Trump seated behind the Resolute Desk overlaid on the text of the Declaration of Independence, while the facing page displays John Trumbull's famous painting, The Declaration of Independence. The White House later shared the same passport design on X with the caption, "New US Passport to Commemorate America's 250th." The commemorative passport was first announced in April as part of nationwide celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. An American official had earlier told CNN that the special edition would initially become the default passport issued by the Washington Passport Agency for eligible in-person renewals, while online applications and other passport centres would continue issuing the standard design.