Trump Shares Shocking AI Image To Threaten A U.S. City With ‘War’

The POTUS delivered a blunt message that drew immediate backlash and confusion.

Donald Trump has turned to artificial intelligence to push out a stark and unsettling message aimed at a major American city. The move quickly drew attention because of both the imagery and the tone he used to frame it.

On Saturday (September 6), the President posted an unusual picture with a pointed note to Chicago on his Truth Social account. The combination of a bold visual and a direct warning set off a wave of reactions across social media and in the news cycle.

Borrowing from the movie Apocalypse Now, the AI-made image shows the POTUS styled as Robert Duvall’s character, Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, surrounded by scenes of blazing chaos and destruction. The creative choice made the message feel even more aggressive, as it tied modern politics to a famous war film backdrop.

In the parody artwork, Chicago’s skyline rises into an orange-tinted sky while helicopters swirl overhead. A version of “Colonel Trump” appears to be seated on a burning beach, echoing a cinematic war zone and leaving little doubt about the mood being conveyed.

The picture is stamped with the phrase “Chipocalypse Now,” which plays on the film’s title while anchoring the post’s combative style.

To make his point even clearer, Trump paired the image with a message addressed to the city. This came as he pushed a plan to bring the National Guard into more domestic roles while advancing a broader effort to increase federal crackdowns on crime in Washington, D.C., and beyond.

He wrote: “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” which he tied to his recent renaming of the Department of Defense.

Trump also tossed in a dark, tongue-in-cheek reference to his hardline immigration stance, adding: “‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning…'”, which riffs on Duvall’s famous line: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

The suggestion of “war” arrived as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a frequent critic of Trump, warned residents about a possible surge of roughly 300 immigration enforcement agents coming into the area.

Responding to Trump’s AI image, Pritzker posted on X: “The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal.”

“Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also weighed in, saying: “The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution. We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”

Following the uproar, the President sought to soften the tone, indicating that the post was meant as a joke and not a literal declaration of battle with the city.

“We’re not going to war. We’re going to clean up our cities,” he told reporters on Sunday (September 7), attempting to reframe the intent behind the post.

“We’re going to clear them up so they don’t kill every five people every weekend,” Trump added. “That’s not war. That’s common sense.”

Back in August, Trump announced that the federal government would assume control over local policing in Washington, D.C. He said he had ordered the National Guard to take a front-line role against crime and to remove homeless encampments.

He has since indicated he wants to apply a similar approach in several Democratic-led cities, naming places like Baltimore and New York City as potential next steps.

“The people of Chicago… are screaming for us to come,” Trump said at the time, implying that residents are calling for stronger federal involvement.

“African-American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please President Trump, come to Chicago, please,’ “ he said. “I did great with the Black vote, as you know. They want something to happen… So I think Chicago will be our next, then we’re gonna help with New York.”

At a press conference, Governor Pritzker countered that there is “no emergency” in the city “that warrants deployment of troops” and argued that the President was “insulting the people” by labeling their community a “hellhole.”

Trump, however, doubled down and claimed that over the weekend six people were murdered and 12 were shot in Chicago, using those numbers to justify his rhetoric and proposed actions.

He added: “This would mean that over the past number of weeks, approximately 50 people were killed, and hundreds were shot, many expected to die. Governor Pritzker just stated that he doesn’t want Federal Government HELP! WHY???”

“I want to help the people of Chicago, not hurt them. Only the Criminals will be hurt!”