{"id":2024417,"date":"2026-07-02T22:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2024417"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:05:28","slug":"does-he-think-hes-real-social-media-reacts-to-trumps-talk-with-ai-teddy-roosevelt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2024417","title":{"rendered":"‘Does He Think He’s Real?’ Social Media Reacts to Trump’s Talk With AI Teddy Roosevelt"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/a\/img\/resize\/cbfe8d855afecc8c9a2a073e51c6b11fc293f34e\/hub\/2026\/07\/02\/e443ad2a-f218-414a-860c-63e649ddc7ef\/teddy-roosevelt-ai-exhibit.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=675&width=1200″]<\/p>\n

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Did you hear the one about President Donald Trump having an imaginary conversation with Theodore Roosevelt?<\/p>\n

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“Well, I appreciate those words, those words are fantastic,” Trump said, “and I just want to say it’s an honor to be with you today, and we are making a little bit of a tour, some of the fantastic things you’ve done.”<\/p>\n

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But because not everybody was aware of the interactive video model, created by AI research lab LemonSlice, a speech afterward in which\u00a0Trump referenced the conversation spread through social media, stirring confusion and spurring jokes about the 80-year-old Trump seemingly having fake conversations with dead people.<\/p>\n

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AI avatars powered by large language models to create the illusion of a historical figure or fictional character are also increasingly showing up at museums, theme parks and interactive art and brand experiences. Disney and Nvidia have conjured up\u00a0Star Wars bots and characters such as\u00a0Olaf from Frozen. Last year, the Elliott Museum in Martin County, Florida, introduced a\u00a0holographic AI display of British archaeologist Howard Carter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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First looks at the AI conversation<\/h2>\n

Some on social media first saw the interaction in posts from Margo Martin, special assistant to the president and communications adviser.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Tim Fullerton (@timfullerton)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Funny takes on the Trump-Roosevelt exchange<\/h2>\n

Comedian Cody Dahler speculated that Trump might see the weirdness of Roosevelt’s AI arms as proof that it was actually real. A brilliant leap of logic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Cody Dahler (@mrcodydahler)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Maggie Reed (Mermaid Mama Maggie) on TikTok posted simply, “Someone help gramps.”<\/p>\n

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@mermaidmamamaggie Somone help gramps. #trump #theodoreroosevelt #funny \u266c funny – S\u00d3 INSTRUMENTAL <\/section>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

And now, some dance moves<\/h2>\n

Several X accounts passed around an AI-generated meme of the two presidents dancing together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Omar Gallaga has covered technology, digital culture and other topics for outlets including CNET, NPR, WIRED, Texas Monthly, MSNBC, Consumer Reports, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic and the Austin American-Statesman, where he was a longtime tech reporter, editor and podcaster. He lives in the Texas Hill Country.<\/span> See full bio <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Did you hear the one about President Donald Trump having an imaginary conversation with Theodore Roosevelt?<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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“Well, I appreciate those words, those words are fantastic,” Trump said, “and I just want to say it’s an honor to be with you today, and we are making a little bit of a tour, some of the fantastic things you’ve done.”<\/p>\n

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But because not everybody was aware of the interactive video model, created by AI research lab LemonSlice, a speech afterward in which\u00a0Trump referenced the conversation spread through social media, stirring confusion and spurring jokes about the 80-year-old Trump seemingly having fake conversations with dead people.<\/p>\n

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AI avatars powered by large language models to create the illusion of a historical figure or fictional character are also increasingly showing up at museums, theme parks and interactive art and brand experiences. Disney and Nvidia have conjured up\u00a0Star Wars bots and characters such as\u00a0Olaf from Frozen. Last year, the Elliott Museum in Martin County, Florida, introduced a\u00a0holographic AI display of British archaeologist Howard Carter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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First looks at the AI conversation<\/h2>\n

Some on social media first saw the interaction in posts from Margo Martin, special assistant to the president and communications adviser.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Tim Fullerton (@timfullerton)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Funny takes on the Trump-Roosevelt exchange<\/h2>\n

Comedian Cody Dahler speculated that Trump might see the weirdness of Roosevelt’s AI arms as proof that it was actually real. A brilliant leap of logic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Cody Dahler (@mrcodydahler)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Maggie Reed (Mermaid Mama Maggie) on TikTok posted simply, “Someone help gramps.”<\/p>\n

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@mermaidmamamaggie Somone help gramps. #trump #theodoreroosevelt #funny \u266c funny – S\u00d3 INSTRUMENTAL <\/section>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

And now, some dance moves<\/h2>\n

Several X accounts passed around an AI-generated meme of the two presidents dancing together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As it turns out, the farfetched scenario was\u00a0absolutely true, even though the 26th president has been dead for over a century. But he has been brought back to life of sorts in an AI-driven digital recreation at the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota. Trump visited the museum ahead of its July 4 opening and had a conversation with the TR avatar standing behind a desk in a replica of the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

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Trump spoke to the Roosevelt representation as if talking with a real person, which is the point of AI replicas.<\/p>\n

In one exchange, Roosevelt tells Trump to keep his nerve, remember that the nation comes first, and he’ll get through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The conversation also touched on the Panama Canal, war and diplomacy and the allure of North Dakota.<\/p>\n

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Conversational AI is becoming an everyday reality for many people, most commonly through the voice modes<\/span><\/span> of chatbots like ChatGPT. Others have found ways to create replicas of loved ones who’ve passed away, based on photos, video and written records.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As for Trump and TR, here are just a few of the social media reactions spurred by the AI meet and greet.<\/p>\n

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.@POTUS interacts with AI President Theodore Roosevelt at the Theodore Roosevelt Library in North Dakota \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 pic.twitter.com\/4ISRo2Tsbj<\/p>\n

\u2014 Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) July 1, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Videos such as that one, showing the conversation, prompted some to express concerns about whether Trump was aware that he was speaking to AI. “Does he think he’s real?” asked Find Out Media founder and CEO Tim Fullerton.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Tim Fullerton (@timfullerton)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Funny takes on the Trump-Roosevelt exchange<\/h2>\n

Comedian Cody Dahler speculated that Trump might see the weirdness of Roosevelt’s AI arms as proof that it was actually real. A brilliant leap of logic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Cody Dahler (@mrcodydahler)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Maggie Reed (Mermaid Mama Maggie) on TikTok posted simply, “Someone help gramps.”<\/p>\n

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@mermaidmamamaggie Somone help gramps. #trump #theodoreroosevelt #funny \u266c funny – S\u00d3 INSTRUMENTAL <\/section>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

And now, some dance moves<\/h2>\n

Several X accounts passed around an AI-generated meme of the two presidents dancing together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Theodore Roosevelt shows off the dance moves he learned from Trump \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udcaf pic.twitter.com\/S3rcr6XGYi<\/p>\n

\u2014 DFF (@DumbFxckFinder) July 1, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

An AI-generated meme about an AI-generated conversation<\/h2>\n

But perhaps the most elaborate, quickly made take on the visit was from Mr. Newberger’s AI Funnies, which gave the news story a Curb Your Enthusiasm-style spin. This might be the best meme so far about the AI meeting.<\/p>\n

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[analyse_source url=”http:\/\/cnet.com\/tech\/services-and-software\/teddy-roosevelt-ai-avatar-donald-trump-interaction\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/a\/img\/resize\/cbfe8d855afecc8c9a2a073e51c6b11fc293f34e\/hub\/2026\/07\/02\/e443ad2a-f218-414a-860c-63e649ddc7ef\/teddy-roosevelt-ai-exhibit.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=675&width=1200″] Did you hear the one about President Donald Trump having an imaginary conversation with Theodore Roosevelt? “Well, I appreciate those words, those words are fantastic,” Trump said, “and I just want to say it’s an honor to be with you today, and we are making a little bit of a tour, some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,226],"class_list":["post-2024417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-cnet-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2024417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2024417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2024417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2024417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}