A disturbance in the force: White House's Star Wars Day post raises eyebrows
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The White House may say President Trump represents a new hope — but Star Wars fans quickly pointed out that part of the White House's social media post celebrating Star Wars Day feels a little more Sith-style.
The big picture: The meme-heavy, provocative communications from White House pages, coupled with a new Drudge Report-style site for pro-Trump stories and the president's own social media stunts, have displayed a sharp shift in the official communications of the United States government.
Driving the news: The White House shared what appears to be an AI-generated image of Trump, with heavily muscled and veiny arms, flanked by two bald eagles, wielding a lightsaber to celebrate Star Wars Day, celebrated on May the 4th.
- "Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy. You're not the Rebellion—you're the Empire," the post read.
One issue: Trump's lightsaber in the image is red. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, lightsaber colors suggested who could be trusted — and who had fallen to the dark side of the Force.
- In filmmaker George Lucas' words, "Good guys are green and blue. Bad guys are red."
- Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Kylo Ren all used red sabers. Anakin (pre-Dark Side) and Luke Skywalker carried blue and green ones, respectively.
- Jedi Master Mace Windu did carry a coveted purple weapon, but among the most common colors — blue, green and red — even casual fans can recognize a trend.
Friction point: The White House's post left users battling for the high ground in the comments.
- Some argued the Republican color is red. Therefore, red lightsaber. Others insisted the lightsaber in the photo is orange.
- There are plenty of other colors a Jedi's saber could be other than the Democrats' favored blue — like green, purple, or even yellow.
- Whether the decision was intentional or if AI chose the saber's color remains unknown.
Yes, but: The Department of Defense's Rapid Response account, however, depicted Trump gripping a green lightsaber while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth carried a blue one.
Zoom out: This was the second time in three days that the White House shared an AI-generated image of Trump that stoked controversy.
- On Friday, the official White House account reposted an image that Trump shared to his Truth Social depicting him in papal vestments after telling reporters earlier in the week he'd "like to be pope" following the death of Pope Francis.
The bottom line: A seemingly silly debate underscores a broader conversation about the, at times, jarring departure from traditional White House communications and the sharing of AI-generated images.
Go deeper: Trump's White House is the hottest right-wing media outlet
