ALBAWABA — After releasing an AI-generated photo of former US President Donald Trump strolling with a penguin in Greenland, the White House faced intense backlash on social media. The image appeared to be a factual error and swiftly provoked mockery.
Following weeks of heated rhetoric from Trump, who had previously claimed that the US should occupy Greenland for national security reasons—at one point even threatening to use force—the post was made amid increasing interest in the island. However, Trump indicated a change in tone this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos by stating that he was amenable to negotiated solutions.
The New York Times claims that the Secretary-General of NATO put forth a possible compromise that would permit the United States to lease small tracts of land in Greenland in order to create restricted military facilities, much like the British military bases now in place in Cyprus.
In light of this, the White House's official X account posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of Trump clutching a penguin's wing on a snow-covered walkway that leads to a Greenland flag with the phrase, "Hug the penguin."
In addition to receiving over 22 million views, the picture sparked a barrage of mocking comments pointing out that penguins do not live in Greenland. While penguins do not reside in Greenland, "ignorance lives in the White House," according to a widely shared comment from the account "Canada Hates Trump."
Additional user replies followed the message, with some criticizing what they called a lack of fundamental geography knowledge and urging the White House to either take down the post or prosecute those responsible.
