The race to become Donald Trump’s next White House press secretary had already attracted television personalities, veteran loyalists and ambitious MAGA insiders.

Then the president appeared to nominate the one candidate he trusts more than anyone else: himself.

Late Thursday night, Trump shared an AI-generated image showing him standing before reporters. Beneath the digitally polished version of the 80-year-old president were four emphatic words:

“The Best Press Secretary.”

The image was not a formal personnel announcement, and Trump did not explicitly declare that he intended to assume the job. But as speculation intensifies over who will replace outgoing press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the post delivered an unmistakably Trumpian message.

Why hire someone else to defend the president when, in his mind, nobody can sell Trump better than Trump?

Leavitt, 28, is leaving the administration to spend more time with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, 60, and their two young children. Her departure creates a highly visible vacancy at a politically dangerous moment for the White House.

The press secretary must confront reporters, shape the administration’s daily narrative and defend the president through crises that can erupt without warning—sometimes through Trump’s own social-media feed.

Several loyalists have been linked to the role. Among the most prominent is CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings, whose possible candidacy has reportedly triggered tension within MAGA circles.

Former Trump attorney Alina Habba has also attracted speculation, while other administration figures and media personalities have been floated as potential successors.

Trump, however, used his Truth Social account to place himself above the competition—at least symbolically.

The image showed a smoother, younger-looking Trump addressing the press. Like many AI-generated pictures shared by the president, it presented a carefully idealized version of reality: commanding, polished and free of the imperfections captured by ordinary cameras.

It was the first of several digitally manufactured images Trump posted within approximately 10 minutes late Thursday.

The rapid series amounted to a surreal tour through the president’s preferred version of America—and himself.

One image reimagined Washington’s troubled Reflecting Pool, currently closed for repairs, with brilliant blue water and what appeared to be a stylized profile of Trump incorporated into the design.

The real pool has become a source of embarrassment. Trump initially blamed vandals for damage at the landmark, but U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro later acknowledged that one of the president’s contractors had caused damage.

New signage around the closed attraction now spreads the blame more broadly, accusing previous administrations of neglecting the landmark since 1922. It also claims that clogged pipes, dirty sidewalks and deteriorating granite contributed to the shutdown.

In Trump’s AI version, however, the complications disappeared. The construction problems, accusations and fenced-off tourist site gave way to a gleaming monument bearing his visual imprint.

Another image transformed Trump into an action hero reviving the Keystone XL pipeline.

The fake scene showed the president physically pulling a pipe from the earth beside a gravestone marked “Buried by Biden.” Trump had recently suggested that the long-disputed pipeline could be “awoken from the grave,” claiming it could eventually carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Keystone XL project, designed to transport oil from Alberta into the United States, was opposed by environmental organizations and Indigenous groups. It was blocked under the Obama and Biden administrations.

The image arrived as Trump faced criticism for retreating from threatened tariffs against Canada—another reversal that revived the mocking “TACO Trump” label, meaning “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

Rather than dwell on the retreat, Trump’s digital fantasy placed him at the center of an industrial resurrection.

His final image resembled an oil painting of Trump walking through a White House corridor. Once again, the president appeared idealized—confident, vigorous and dramatically lit.

Together, the posts offered a revealing glimpse into Trump’s political communication strategy. Artificial intelligence allows him to bypass the limitations of photography and present the world exactly as he wants supporters to see it.

Broken landmarks become glorious tributes. Abandoned projects rise from the dead. The president becomes younger, stronger and more heroic.

And a staffing search ends with Trump declaring himself the greatest possible candidate.

The White House has not confirmed that the “Best Press Secretary” image was meant as anything more than online promotion or humor. There is no indication Trump will formally take over Leavitt’s position.

Still, the post captured the central challenge facing whoever accepts the job.

A Trump press secretary does not simply communicate White House policy. That person must interpret, amplify and sometimes defend a president who can seize control of the news cycle with a single late-night post.

Leavitt’s eventual successor may stand behind the briefing-room podium, answer the questions and carry the official title.

But Trump’s AI declaration made his own view brutally clear: Whoever gets hired will still be competing with a president who believes the best spokesperson for Donald Trump has always been Donald Trump himself.