Only around one-third of Americans say they've seen a recent AI-generated video posted by Donald Trump depicting himself dropping sewage out of a fighter jet onto protesters, but once shown the video, 70% of Americans say they strongly or somewhat disapprove of it. A new YouGov poll showed Americans this video — as well as two other AI videos posted by the president on Truth Social this year — and found that reactions were generally negative, with many viewing the videos as unpresidential, disturbing, and offensive.
Before showing respondents the three AI-generated videos that Trump has posted to Truth Social, we first asked about their awareness of these posts. The largest share — 36% — said they had seen the video Trump shared of himself flying a jet and dropping sewage on protesters, which was posted on October 18, 2025. Smaller shares of Americans had viewed videos of Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval office and sent to prison (15% had seen the video, posted on July 20) or of an imagined version of Gaza containing a golden statue of Trump and a Trump Gaza hotel (18% had seen the video, posted on February 25). Between 15% and 17% said they had heard about each of these videos but had not personally seen them. Democrats were more likely than Republicans to have seen the fighter jet video (50% vs. 30%), the Obama video (21% vs. 14%), and the Gaza video (26% vs. 13%).
Of the three videos we showed to respondents, reactions to the fighter jet video were most negative: After being shown the video, 70% of Americans disapprove of Trump posting it — including 61% who say they strongly disapprove. Only 19% strongly or somewhat approve of Trump's decision to post the video. The vast majority of Democrats (96%) disapprove, as do 72% of Independents. Republicans are divided: 43% disapprove and 42% approve.
After respondents watched the video, they were asked to select all adjectives from a list that they think describe what they were shown. 60% of Americans describe the fighter jet video as unpresidential, 52% say it is disturbing, 51% say it is offensive, and 48% say it is tacky. Smaller shares believe the video is funny (21%), entertaining (15%), clever (9%), and impressive (5%). Majorities of Democrats and Independents select negative adjectives to describe the video; the descriptor chosen most often by Republicans is funny (43%)
After being shown an AI-generated video depicting Obama being arrested and imprisoned, 69% of Americans disapprove of Trump posting it. Only 21% approve. Majorities of Democrats (95%) and Independents (73%) disapprove of the post. Republicans are somewhat more likely to approve of it than to disapprove (48% vs. 38%).
After watching it, a majority (58%) of Americans describe the AI video of Obama being arrested as unpresidential; 48% say it is offensive, 45% say it is disturbing, and 43% say it is tacky. Less than 20% describe it as each of the following: funny, entertaining, clever, or impressive.
Another AI-generated video posted by Trump that we showed to respondents depicted an imagined version of Gaza containing a golden statue of Trump and a Trump Gaza hotel. After viewing it, about two-thirds (66%) of Americans disapprove of Trump posting this video; 20% approve. Most Democrats (93%) and most Independents (71%) disapprove of the video. Republicans are somewhat more likely to approve than disapprove (45% vs. 35%).
About half (52%) of Americans describe the AI Gaza video as unpresidential; 48% say it is tacky, 42% say it is disturbing, and 38% say it is offensive. 15% or less say it is each of the following: funny, entertaining, clever, or impressive.
More Americans expect that AI will have a negative than a positive effect on society (48% vs. 29%) and three-quarters (74%) of Americans think it should be more regulated. Majorities say they are very concerned about AI resulting in the spread of misleading deep fakes (73%), the spread of political propaganda (64%), and the manipulation of human behavior (61%). By 62% to 23%, Americans disapprove of online videos created with AI tools.
Only 22% of Americans follow Trump on a social media platform. One in five (20%) say they never see content he posts on social media; 21% say they rarely do, 26% say they sometimes do, and 28% say they often do. More consider Trump's social media posts to be always or usually inappropriate than appropriate (53% vs. 29%).
— Carl Bialik and David Montgomery contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted October 20 - 22, 2025 among 1,091 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
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