Trump Posts AI Van Gogh Meme Fueling Third-Term Speculation

President Donald Trump has posted an AI meme of himself hosting a party for his supporters using Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 painting “The Starry Night” as a backdrop on another busy evening on Truth Social.

The president is seen in the image basking in the admiration of representative members of his base, who are clustered around outdoor tables to enjoy a drink in the summer twilight.

“Trump 2028, Make America Great Again,” reads a banner headline.

The post might be interpreted as Trump’s latest hint that he intends to seek an unconstitutional third term in two years’ time, although The Washington Post reported Thursday that he has privately told donors to throw their money behind Vice President JD Vance at the next election.

The tortured Dutch artist’s celebrated painting captures the view, as he saw it, from the window of his asylum room at Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France, and has been in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941.

Prior to his being taken into care, Van Gogh famously attempted to sever his left ear following a heated argument with fellow artist Paul Gaugin, requiring it to be heavily bandaged, a distressing detail captured in a subsequent self-portrait.

Trump’s supporters unconsciously echoed that image when they wore cotton bandages in sympathy with the president at the 2024 Republican convention, which came days after his right ear had been clipped by a sniper’s bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Elsewhere on his social media platform, Trump posted a series of memes celebrating victories for his preferred Republican candidates in Tennessee’s primary elections, as well as others attempting to associate himself with great figures from American history.

In one, he can be seen signing a document by feather quill with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln; in a second, he shares a joke with John F Kennedy at Camp David; and in a third, he marches on the battlefield with Generals George S Patton and Douglas MacArthur.

The last of these, which he first posted earlier this week, is perhaps the most contentious, given that Trump never served in the military, having received several draft deferrals from the Vietnam War during his youth after being signed off with bone spurs.

He has also been quoted in the past making disparaging remarks about fallen American soldiers – although he had denied making the offending comments.

The president also posted a new version of a meme he first showcased a month ago in which he casts himself as a doctor diagnosing former talk show host and comedian Rosie O’Donnell with “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

O’Donnell, who left the U.S. to live in the Republic of Ireland following the president’s re-election, responded to the original video by saying of him: “He’s quite ill – and getting worse daily. The 25th Amendment exists for exactly this reason. Remove. Impeach. Convict.”