Why the White House's AI image of Trump with ‘nihilist penguin’ in ‘Greenland’ invited an internet troll fest

The White House invited the internet for a trolling session after its most recent post showed the US President Donald Trump’s continuing fixation on Greenland.

The official account on X posted an AI-generated image of Donald Trump walking beside a penguin holding the US flag with the caption “Embrace the penguin” on Friday. The image went viral on the internet immediately.

The lone penguin seemed to have been a reference to the viral “nihilist penguin” meme.

Netizens noted that the image had major errors, starting with the penguin's footprints, which were identical to the president's.

The biggest error, however, was the penguin itself. There are no penguins in the Arctic North Pole, a fact the White House seems to have ignored.

What is the Nihilist penguin meme?

The “Nihilist penguin” meme originated from a viral clip from German filmaker Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary on Antarctica. The clip featured a lonely Adelie penguin, seemingly disoriented, breaking away from its colony and heading towards the interiors of Antarctica, most likely toward its death.

Most penguin species huddle together on the Antarctic coastlines in colonies. The odd behaviour of the lonely penguin became an internet sensation as people began relating to its behaviour.

The post from the White House was immediately termed embarrassing. Many pointed out the factual errors in sarcastic posts.

Rasmus Jarlov, a Conservative MP in Denmark, said, “The message from the White House is clear: Trump belongs in Greenland as much as penguins do.”

One account tweeted, “There are no penguins in Greenland. All Penguins live in the southern hemisphere except one species from the Galapagos Islands. Perhaps you shouldn’t have dismantled the Department of Education so quickly.”

Many also jumped in to make AI generated videos of Trump getting chased by polar bears, an animal that actually lives in Greenland and the northern hemisphere.

The post was made just days after Trump threatened to escalate his methods to acquire the Arctic island, heightening tensions with US allies.

Earlier this week, Trump had posted another AI image of himself, JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio standing with an American flag, and a sign board declaring that the Greenland was US territory.