Donald Trump interacted with an AI-powered ghost of Theodore Roosevelt, sparking immediate concern online over the surreal encounter.
The President stopped by the newly built Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota on Wednesday to honor the legacy of the 26th president.
During the visit, a virtual Roosevelt, brought to life through artificial intelligence (AI), offered a piece of advice to Trump: 'Do not lose courage, and remember that the nation comes first.'
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Trump responded, 'I am grateful for those words. I want to say that it is an honor to be here with you today.'
One user on X reacted to the video posted by Trump's social media team with disgust, writing: 'Bringing back the dead via AI seems profane.'
The President later asked if the fake AI-Roosevelt believed building the Panama Canal his 'greatest achievements.'
'The canal stands as one of my proudest battles, no question. But greatness is a strange thing,' the AI-powered ghost told Trump.
'It isn't always the biggest or boldest job that matters most...I measure my greatest work by the lives improved, parks set aside, food and drugs made safe, the square deal given to all, not just to a few.'
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During the visit, a virtual Roosevelt, brought to life through artificial intelligence (AI), offered a piece of advice to Trump: 'Do not lose courage, and remember that the nation comes first'
The President later asked if the fake AI-Roosevelt believed building the Panama Canal his 'greatest achievements'
Trump has often compared himself to Teddy Roosevelt
The President stopped by the newly built Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota on Wednesday to honor the legacy of the 26th president
'Still, when I stood in the mud, watching those steam shovels, knowing ships would pass through, changing the world's map forever, I felt I'd left a mark that would last.'
Trump shot back a short response to the fake president: 'Okay, you did. Thank you.'
Trump has often compared himself to Roosevelt, and notably threatened to seize the Panama Canal during the early days of his second term.
Speaking at the Roosevelt Library, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to expanding US control of the waterway, vowing he would not let China take it over.
Roosevelt himself championed the construction of the Panama Canal in the early 1900s, framing it as a symbol of American strength and global reach.
Trump has leaned on those achievements to justify his own ambitions in the region.
Trump has also invoked Roosevelt's assertive 'big stick' foreign policy to defend his broader push for territorial and strategic expansion in the western hemisphere, including remarks about seizing Greenland and renaming the Gulf of Mexico.