Afrasianet - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday posted a map on his platform Truth Social showing large swathes of North America and parts of the Caribbean covered in U.S. flags, including Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Iceland and several islands, including Cuba and Jamaica.
Trump did not attach any comment or explanation to the map, while the phrase "United States of America" appears on the map, visually suggesting the annexation of these territories to the United States, without the publication accompanying any official announcement of the border change, according to The Hill.
The map comes in the context of Trump's previous moves and statements about expanding influence or changing the names of geographic areas, including his previous calls for control of Greenland, as well as changes related to the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario, and his recent proposal to change the name of the state of New Mexico to "New America."
The map sparked reactions in Mexico, where President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country was "not and will not be a colony or protectorate" of any foreign country.
From "Goodbye Khark" to "Lake America." What does Trump want from his AI-generated images?
In recent days, US President Donald Trump has intensified the publication of images and clips that appear to be generated by artificial intelligence on Truth Social, which carried threatening messages to Iran and others promoting his decisions.
From the burning Khark Island to "Lake America," his publications intersect satirical scenes with messages of politics and war.
CNBC reported that over the course of more than 10 hours, Trump posted dozens of images that appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence, interspersed with unsubstantiated claims about Iran's economy.
"Goodbye Khark".. a picture that carries a threat
One of the most prominent of these posts is a photo showing a fighter flying over a burning island, with the words "Goodbye Khark."
The reference to the island gains its importance because about 90 percent of Iran's oil exports passed through it before the war.
In the same Sunday wave, a photo emerged of Trump striking a map of Iran with a hammer bearing the colors of the American flag, and another in which he watched explosions devouring ships from a warship.
These scenes were accompanied by unsubstantiated claims of the collapse of Iran's currency.
This is not the first time Trump has threatened Iran with photos: On the night of August 30-31, he posted a video that appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence showing explosions around oil facilities, and the caption read, "Khark Island is being torn to pieces."
But the island was not attacked that night, as the actual U.S. strike targeted two launch pads on Lark Island near the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. official who spoke to Reuters.
The head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Hamid Board, called Trump's posts "ridiculous" and said on Monday (August 31) that the situation in Kharg was "calm and favorable," adding that oil operations had not stopped, Reuters reported.
Asked about the video the next day, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said he believed Trump was sending a message to Iran.
In explaining the content of the letter, he accused Tehran of continuing to target commercial navigation, and worded the president's warning to her: "You have to stop, or there will be consequences," and the administration presented the video as a warning, not an announcement of an attack.
"Lake America".. a picture behind a decision
If Khark's photos are anything to go by, the Lake Ontario dossier is linked to a decision that has already been made: The lake appeared as "America's Lake" in Sunday's posts, following a Trump executive order on Aug. 27 to change its name in U.S. federal records and official materials.
On Saturday, August 29, Trump posted a video of him kicking the "Lake Ontario" sign and replacing it with "Lake America."
On the same day, he reposted a clip of armed geese, with a hairstyle that resembled his own, guarding the lake under its new name.
Google and Apple adopted the new name for users in the United States, while Apple Maps kept the name Ontario in its Canadian version, and offered the two names to international users.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the change, noting that the lake's name dates back more than 400 years, predating the Canadian federation and the American Declaration of Independence. "This lake is called Lake Ontario, today and forever," he said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded by unveiling a giant banner on Canadian shore that read, "Lake Ontario – Now and Always." The U.S. order does not obligate Canada to change the name, nor does it change sovereignty over the lake shared between the two countries.
From George Washington to the Moon
Between these two files, dozens of images pass that carry neither a threat nor a resolution.
Trump appeared with George Washington in the Oval Office, and the commander of an army of robots under the phrase "give them nightmares."
In other publications, New Mexico became "New America."
The moon appeared next to the American flag with the words "The moon is ours."
What are Trump's messages from the photos?
Clearly, Trump is not releasing these images to convince anyone that they are real, as the scenes are clear in that they are imagined and designed through artificial intelligence, and no one is wrong about that.
But it says something about the way he wants to be seen: in the case of a president who strikes whenever he wants, and in Ontario, a president who changes names on maps, and the latter has already happened.
What makes the photos worthy of attention is not their content, but the calculation from which they emerge, the very account from which the president of the United States announces his decisions in a war that is not yet over.
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