Trump responds to Obama's 'rent-free' jibe with throwback image

US President Donald Trump has shared a side-by-side image comparing himself at age 20 with former President Barack Obama at age 18, days after Obama mocked Trump's repeated public criticism of him.

Posted on Trump's Truth Social account, the image showed a 20-year-old Trump in his New York Military Academy uniform in 1964. Alongside it was a photo of an 18-year-old Obama during his early days at Occidental College, appearing to have what looked like a marijuana joint in his mouth. Trump did not include a caption explaining why he shared the image.

The post came shortly after Obama took a swipe at Trump during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast, describing the president's repeated attacks on him as "strange" and suggesting he occupies a permanent place in Trump's thoughts.

"You've got to ask him what it is... the obsession. I obviously have a room in his head, a suite in his head," Obama said.

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He added: "I've got work to do. The idea that I'd be worrying about somebody who came before and trying to measure, like, 'What's he done today?' Constantly worrying about that is a strange thing to me. It shows me somebody who is not focused on the American people and the job they're supposed to do."

Over the weekend, Trump also shared an AI-generated image of himself portraying Atlas, the figure from Greek mythology condemned to carry the heavens. In the image, Trump is shown kneeling, draped in an American flag, with the Earth resting on his shoulders.

Sharing edited or AI-generated images of himself has become a recurring feature of Trump's social media posts. Earlier this year, he drew criticism after posting an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus healing a hospital patient.

The image was later deleted. Trump subsequently told reporters he had not intended to compare himself to a religious figure and said he viewed the image as portraying him as a doctor helping someone.