President Donald Trump is again under the radar of social media critics. The U.S. president is now facing online backlash after the White House released a photo of him monitoring U.S. strikes on Iran. However, several critics are accusing him of trying to recreate a historic image from the Obama era.
As per The Mirror, the image, which was posted online hours after the Trump administration launched a joint military operation with Israel targeting Iran. It shows Trump seated at a table at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
He is seen wearing a white “USA” hat, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The room also has black curtains hanging behind the officials as they look toward the screens and communicate with the national security team.
This dude has been trying to recreate that Obama photo for a decade now and has failed every time pic.twitter.com/BBElkXkk6j
— Isaiah Martin (@isaiahrmartin) February 28, 2026
Social media users quickly found similarity between the two images. They compared the image to the famous 2011 Situation Room photograph taken during the U.S. mission that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
That picture, captured by White House photographer Pete Souza, showed then-President Barack Obama seated with then-Vice President Joe Biden and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton inside the White House Situation Room. The photograph is widely known to describe Obama’s presidency and is a symbol of the U.S. campaign against terrorism.
“This dude has been trying to recreate that Obama photo for a decade now and has failed every time,” congressional hopeful Isaiah Martin wrote on X.
Another user commented, “You can tell the difference between the two. Obama was taken in the moment. Trump’s photo looks like a setup photo op, like stage it and snap it.”
A third post read, “What’s so great about this Obama photo is that he doesn’t make it about him. Obama’s not the center of the picture, he’s not demanding to be noticed.”
The discussion escalated amid the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. On Saturday, Feb. 28, the United States and Israel carried out coordinated strikes on Iranian targets. Additionally, Trump confirmed the operation in a video posted overnight on Truth Social.
“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted ‘Death to America’ and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed,” Trump said, warning Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard to “lay down their arms” or “face certain death.”
In another statement, Trump announced that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, had been killed in the strikes.
Just feel like Trump has been obsessed with recreating this photo, looking for his own Obama/Bin Laden headline. Guess he’s finally got it. https://t.co/AcTQHes7UY pic.twitter.com/TrVA3gA8Ws
— Gustavo Gracias💮 (@victorumesi) March 1, 2026
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote. “This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS.”
“He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump added.
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” he stated. The operation marks the second round of U.S. strikes on Iran in Trump’s presidency.
