President Donald Trump has a long history of using social media to provoke reactions, but this time the response arrived almost instantly — and not in the way he likely intended. A single repost set off confusion, disbelief, and then something darker, as users tried to make sense of what he appeared to be signaling.
Trump reposted an image without explanation or commentary — a grainy photo involving the White House roof and a single, ominous word — allowing the internet to interpret the moment on its own.
The fuzzy, black-and-white photo of Trump standing on the roof of the White House was only accompanied by the caption “Soon.” The jokes nearly wrote themselves, but the origin of the meme told a different story.
The original version of the photograph was taken in August, as Trump stood on the roof of the West Wing, above the Press Briefing Room, discussing plans to construct a ballroom and complete other renovations to the White House with reporters. Considered a bizarre move at the time.
The photo was edited into a meme and posted to X under the account @ThomasA137 on Jan. 8 in response to a post from conservative Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen that read, “The Cuban regime has survived every president since Eisenhower. Wouldn’t it be something if that streak ended with Donald Trump?”
To some social media users, Thiessen’s post might imply that Cuba’s government, perhaps, could fall under Trump. With the mysterious meme added to the equation, Thiessen’s question could hold an entirely different meaning.
But by reposting the meme without context or caption, the president allowed the joke to land squarely on himself.
Social media users were quick to point out the irony, mocking the president, and bringing attention to the absurdity of his obliviousness.
One Threads user shared a screenshot of Trump’s screenshot, writing, “Trump seems to be reposting death threats. Lol.”
Another added, “He’s not intelligent enough to know what that guy is implying. He probably thinks it’s a compliment about the White House being renamed the Trump White House.”
One commenter was filled with confusion, “What is this supposed to mean? “Soon” what—an announcement, an operation, a threat, or just the usual authoritarian mood-board? And why does the photo of Trump look like a Loch Ness sighting?”
Most of the response were morbid wishful thinking. From, “Maybe he’ll jump,” and If only he fell ” to “I think we’re hoping he’ll jump soon. While sundowning.”
The president has long used memes as a weapon, or at least a megaphone. But this time, the tactic not only spread like wildfire online, it backfired significantly. And is just the latest example of how sharing visual content without context, especially coming from a sitting U.S. president, can mislead, and leave the public wondering.
A 2025 report published by Poynter on the president’s use of “AI-driven political messaging,” notes that since Trump began his second stint in the White House, the MAGA administration’s X account had created “at least 14 posts” using AI.
“While presidents have been known to distort reality in the past, there is no precedent for this regular dissemination of deepfakes from the Oval Office. This lack of concern matches President Trump’s general approach to AI — hands-off, anti-regulation,” Rutgers University associate professor of communication Katherine Ognyanova told Poynter.
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