The 20 Most Unhinged MAGA Media Posts of 2025 (Part II)

From Pope Trump to ‘Chipocalypse Now,’ a ranking of the Trump administration’s social media ragebait

PART II

The Contrarian is revisiting the 20 most unhinged social media posts by Donald Trump and his administration in 2025 — a collection reflecting the bigoted, lawless, and conspiratorial tendencies of a government that often seems more interested in trolling the public than serving it. (Click here to read Part I.)

Of course, it was difficult to choose just 20 posts, let alone a top 10, from an administration run by an addled social media junkie who can unleash upwards of 150 “Truths” on an emotional night. But we are confident in our selection, and the countdown continues below:

10: Pope Trump

What’s a little sacrilege from the commander in chief? Trump marked the period of mourning for the late Pope Francis by posting an AI image to Truth Social of himself as the new pontiff. The offensive image was later posted on X by the official White House account. (When earlier asked whom he’d like to see replace Francis, Trump had told reporters: “I’d like to be pope. That’d be my number one choice.”)

Famously biblically illiterate, yet somehow popular with the religious far right, Trump was promptly denounced by Catholic leaders.” There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” wrote a group representing New York bishops. “Do not mock us.”

9: Which Way, American Man?

Not doing anything to beat the white-nationalist rap, DHS posted a recruitment poster that tweaked a hate slogan, “Which way Western man?” to become “Which way, American man?” — using it to caption a Rockwelleque poster of a threadbare Uncle Sam seeking a return to “LAW & ORDER.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “the caption appears to be a reference to a white nationalist book published by the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi hate group.” (DHS posted a similar “Report all Foreign Invaders” poster, reportedly created by an avowed white nationalist.)

8: The Sombrero

During the government shutdown, Trump posted a deepfake AI video on Truth Social that depicted House minority leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero with a bushy mustache. This fake Jeffries stood alongside a fake Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, who delivered a fake speech about why Democrats are hated (“because of our woke trans bullshit”) and need to woo new voters. “If we give all these illegal aliens health care, we might be able to get them on our side,” the fake Schumer says, “so they can vote for us.” (This ragebait offers a version of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which falsely holds there is a plot to overrun white majorities with immigrants for political gain.)

The real Rep. Jeffries denounced the video as “racist” — leading Vice President JD Vance to keep trolling. He vowed the online abuse would continue until the shutdown ended: “If you help us reopen the government,” Vance said, “the sombrero memes will stop.”

7: Secretary of War Turtles

When the Secretary of Defense found himself on the defensive over war crime and murder allegations related to the killing of survivors of a September airstrike on an alleged drug boat, Pete Hegseth trolled his critics by posting a mocked up book cover. The image depicted the gentle childhood protagonist Franklin the Turtle firing a rocket launcher from a helicopter, and was titled: Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists. “For your Christmas wish list…” Hegseth wrote.

The faux Franklin title had originated from a creator who also reportedly depicted the turtle as a 9/11 truther. The Canadian publishing company behind the real books insisted Franklin is actually an icon of “kindness, empathy, and inclusivity.” But that plea for decency fell on deaf ears, as both the Department of Education and the Department of Justice soon posted their own Franklin memes, with DOJ depicting the turtle as a deportation judge.

6: Universal “Medbeds”

Republicans have no plan to improve Americans’ healthcare, which may explain why Trump posted (then deleted) a bizarre AI video in September touting universal access to a made-up solution: “Medbeds.” Medbeds don’t exist, of course. They’re part of a QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theory that the ruling class have access to a secret technology that can regenerate limbs and reverse the aging process. Trump posted a fake Fox News clip on Truth Social in which an AI version of him announced the rollout of “Medbed cards,” which would grant citizens the right to be cured in “Medbed hospitals.”

5: “Rest in Peace!”

After Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, were murdered in December (allegedly by their son), the president evinced characteristic empathy and grace dashed off a demented Truth Social post that nonsensically blamed their killings on “the anger” that the liberal director had “caused others” due to a “mind crippling” case of “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” This “disgusting post” was too dark even for some Trump superfans, who posted replies imploring the president to delete it. “I love you,” wrote verified user Rebecca4USA, “but this is seriously distasteful.”

4: Trump Gaza

Trump’s tastelessness knows no bounds. But he outdid himself in February, when the brutal war in Gaza was still raging. He posted an AI video to Instagram imagining the post-war Gaza Strip rebuilt as a Dubai-style beachside paradise, replete with superyachts, a Trump tower, and a massive, golden Trump statue. The video — which depicted Trump sipping drinks poolside with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu — presented a fever dream in which Trump was profiting from Gazans being displaced, a policy of ethnic cleansing that the president was, in fact, touting at the time.

3: 1930s Bovino Supercut

As Trump transformed the Border Patrol into his paramilitary deportation brigade, Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino became the agency’s leading man, directing Chicago’s “Operation Midway Blitz” with brutality and a disregard for the rule of law. (This included lying to a federal judge under oath.)

As his public stature grew, Bovino made alarming stylistic choices that were highlighted in a hype video posted to X by DHS. It showed Bovino delivering a stiff-armed salute, and donning an overcoat unmistakably reminiscent of the attire of the Gestapo. The video was overlayed with glowing letters reading: “We will not be stopped.”

2: “Punishable by Death”

When decorated Democratic members of Congress made a November PSA reminding troops of their duty to uphold the Constitution and oppose unlawful orders, the aspiring authoritarian president crashed out. Trump posted on Truth Social that this was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” (He also lambasted the lawmakers “TRAITORS.”)

Nevermind that the Democrats were simply restating military law — or that Trump began his second term by pardoning Jan. 6 criminals actually convicted of seditious behavior — the Pentagon soon doubled down on Trump’s incitement by launching an investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, over what it absurdly described as “serious allegations of misconduct.”

1: “Into the Wood Chipper”

Much of Elon Musk’s brief, destructive tenure as Trump’s co-president was conducted on X, the social network owned by the GOP megadonor. But nothing was more horrifying than Musk’s February 2 post announcing he’d “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”

The decision to dismantle America’s international aid agency has been deadly on a genocidal scale for those deprived of nutrition and medical assistance. The death toll from USAID funding cuts and disruptions is now estimated at more than 660,000. A study by The Lancet projects the toll to grow to 14 million by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five.

Yet even as Musk tweeted out his foul handiwork, the narcissistic billionaire sought sympathy from readers: “Could gone to some great parties,” he wrote. “Did that instead.”

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Dishonorable mentions

The White House touted the March arrest of an alleged drug dealer by using AI to create an illustration of her capture in the style of the Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. (The White House separately posted a picture of the detainee, enthusing that she “wept when taken into custody.”) The post underscored a theme of much of the administration’s social media output: Cruelty, but make it aesthetic.

If the Department of Homeland Security’s social media team isn’t run by white nationalists, it is certainly run to appeal to white nationalists. The department has repeatedly posted old American artworks mythologizing settler colonialism during the era of Manifest Destiny — the doctrine that (white) Americans were divinely entitled to conquer the continent. DHS accompanied the paintings with thinly veiled slogans like “Remember Your Homeland’s Heritage” and “A Heritage to be proud of.”

DHS Spox. Stephen Miller reposts “Now hiring ‘Deportation Judges’”:

DHS: “Fire up the deportation planes”

Trump posts video of Russ Vought as grim reaper during shutdown fight:

Whatever this is: