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I'm Scott Detrel, and this is Trump's Terms from NPR.
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Every episode we bring you one story from NPR's coverage
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of the Trump administration, with a focus on actions and policies
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that take the presidency into uncharted territory.
0:27
Here's the latest from NPR.
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A new front has opened up in the war with Iran, the virtual one,
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along with launching drones and missiles.
0:39
Iran is now firing off memes.
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And President Trump is the regime's favorite target.
0:45
War propaganda is as old as battles of centuries past.
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But as MPR's Kerry Con reports, in 2026,
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it's hitting a wider audience at a furious pace.
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Trolling Trump is a new Iranian regime pastime.
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It shifted into high gear soon after the start of the war
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when the White House put out a controversial media mashup,
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mixing NFL tackle highlights with missile strike footage in Iran.
1:14
Iran's retort features an animated Lego multiverse
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where Iranian soldiers avenge miniature Trump
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and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bombs.
1:32
The AI generated Iranian missiles hit targets
1:35
throughout the Middle East, sending boxy Lego figure scrambling
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from tiny orthodox Jewish men in Israel to Saudi shakes in the Gulf.
1:44
Iran's vast-state media apparatus has taken up
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trolling in official communicates, too, and in English,
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like this recent dry delivery of Trump's trademark phrases
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by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman,
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Trolling has long been in grassroots internet culture
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for more than 15 years, says Whitney Phillips
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who teaches media ethics at the University of Oregon.
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But she says with the rise of Donald Trump,
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it's catapulted into global politics.
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This is the language in which Trump speaks,
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and so this is the language in which world leaders are speaking to him.
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Like the IRGC spokesman, Zulfakori,
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who often invokes the president's ties to convicted sex offender,
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Jeffrey Epstein, and his notorious island.
2:38
A reminder to the corrupted island man,
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the ground and the map of the war is in our hands.
2:44
Former head of Iran's National Security Council,
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Ali Laranjani, also liked to troll Trump,
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with Epstein Island references, too,
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he was assassinated last week in a targeted Israeli air strike.
2:56
The real experience of war is getting lost in the focus grabbing
3:00
and income generating world of memes,
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says Emerson Brooking, of the Atlantic Council's
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Digital Forensic Research Lab.
3:08
It's this like content and commodification of war,
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war becoming part of the attention economy,
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which I think is another very weird,
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disconfident experience that so many of us are going through and feeling right now.
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According to Iranian health officials,
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more than 1,500 civilians have been killed there,
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as well as at least 14 U.S. servicemen.
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Brooking says Iranian propaganda is not new,
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but with its flair for Trump trolling,
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it's now successfully reaching large numbers of Americans,
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They are not used to seeing the messages of a country
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that the U.S. government is bombing,
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that are directed toward them.
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And he says Iranians are pioneers at global propaganda.
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Long-time adapters of social media starting decades ago.
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However, their AI-generated videos of late
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seem to be more about quantity than quality
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with a lot of content generated,
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apparently, by 30-year-old state workers
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with an nostalgia for the late 1990s kid show,
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In this video, a Trump tubby is dressed in an American flag-themed
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Pudgy outfit, as he sets on the floor of the Oval Office,
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playing with fighter jets over a map of the Middle East.
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And more Legos-inspired videos, too, set to rap music.
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Cross the ocean just to fight you great.
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Sacrifice John Boyz for a lie.
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Make America great again.
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It ends on a cut to a black screen with white writing.
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Your grave mistake of attacking us will be judged by history,
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and it won't be in your favor.
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And then ends with this message.
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Thank you for your attention to this matter,
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Kari Khan, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
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And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters
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who hear each show without sponsored messages,
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and of course, who help protect independent journalism.
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If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out
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how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows,
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like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more.
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Again, that's plus.npr.org.
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I'm Scott Detra, thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.
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