President Donald Trump has posted a link on Truth Social directing his followers to a meme invoking a long-running QAnon conspiracy theory. The president shared the URL late Wednesday, linking to an AI-generated image of himself surrounded by crackling lightning, accompanied by the slogans "The Storm is Coming" and "Nothing Can Stop What is Coming." The meme was originally posted by an account called Spiritual Street Fighter.
Background of QAnon
The QAnon theory, which dates back to Trump's first term in office, posits that the world is run by a shadowy cabal of pedophiles that will be overthrown by a violent event, ultimately leading to 'the Great Awakening.' A supposed government insider known as "Q" would post updates on message boards, claiming that Trump was about to expose the situation and deliver justice to the perpetrators. Q warned that this mythic elite would be engulfed by "the storm" in a battle between good and evil.
Reactions to the Post
Extremism expert Mike Rothschild reacted to the commander-in-chief's latest post on X, stating: "Trump is posting QAnon memes so frequently now that nobody even comments on it anymore. What is there to even say at this point? The most powerful man on the planet has severe internet brain worms, and nobody cares." A number of other X users took the president to task for posting "QAnon cult nonsense" and "raw Q marketing."
While one-time advocates of the conspiracy theory, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, have lately attempted to distance themselves from it, Trump has long fanned the flames of the savior narrative and appears more reluctant to make a definitive break. During the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election, he was given an opportunity to definitively disavow QAnon during a town hall event hosted by Savannah Guthrie by admitting it was "just crazy and not true." Instead, he answered only: "I don't know about QAnon. What I do hear about it, they are very strongly against pedophilia."
Broader Concerns
Trump's social media output has caused regular concern of late, thanks to a series of inflammatory posts since the commencement of the Iran war. The president has posted increasingly wild threats against Tehran, vowing to end their civilization, attacked Pope Leo XIV for opposing the conflict, and shared memes of himself as Jesus Christ. His messages have led Democrats and other critics to suggest he should be removed from power via the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.
