Trump Shares Military Drill Videos Without Commentary
Trump posts two videos featuring marching commands and color guard cadences on Truth Social, adding to a pattern of military-themed content.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump shared two videos depicting military-style marching drills and color guard commands on Truth Social without written commentary.
The footage, which runs roughly two minutes combined, features cadence calls including “forward march” and repeated commands of “present the colors,” language associated with formal military ceremonies and drill exercises. Trump offered no caption or explanation alongside the videos.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Truth Social post containing 2 videos” on October 20, 2026 at 9:53 PM ET.
This is Trump’s 38th message released today, and the last post was 6 minutes ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 146 of his 535 posts over the last 30 days classified as image-only posts.
The videos capture what appears to be a formal drill sequence. A voice calls out rhythmic marching commands — “and slow, and two, and four, and hop” — before ordering troops to open, close, and shut ranks. The sequence culminates with the repeated command “present the colors,” a phrase used during flag ceremonies when service members display the national and unit colors before an assembled formation. Multiple voices echo the order in succession, a practice common at formal ceremonies, parades, and change-of-command events.
Trump has turned to military-themed media repeatedly across his social media accounts. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump played clips from Stanley Kubrick‘s 1987 Vietnam War film “Full Metal Jacket” at rallies, featuring R. Lee Ermey as Marine Gunnery Sgt. Hartman drilling recruits, according to hindustantimes.com. Those clips, captioned “THEN,” ran against footage captioned “NOW” and “THE BIDEN HARRIS MILITARY,” and the video ended with the slogan “LET’S MAKE OUR MILITARY GREAT AGAIN,” according to hindustantimes.com.
Trump praised Ermey, who served in the Marines as a drill sergeant before his acting career. “He was supposed to get the Academy Award,” Trump told an audience in Wisconsin during the 2024 campaign, according to hindustantimes.com. Matthew Modine, who played Private Joker in the film, said Trump “twisted and profoundly distorted Kubrick’s powerful anti-war film into a perverse, homophobic, and manipulative tool of propaganda,” according to hindustantimes.com.
Trump has also posted AI-generated military imagery on Truth Social. In October 2025, he shared an AI-created video showing himself wearing a crown, flying a “KING TRUMP” fighter jet, and bombing a crowd of protesters with brown liquid as Kenny Loggins‘ “Danger Zone” played in the background, according to the-independent. In September 2025, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself in a cowboy hat, U.S. Army fatigues, and aviator sunglasses with military helicopters flying low over the Chicago skyline, which appeared engulfed in flames, according to the-independent. That image contained the slogan “Chipocalypse Now,” a reference to the 1979 Vietnam War film “Apocalypse Now,” according to the-independent.
The drill footage stands apart from the AI-generated content because it appears to depict an actual military exercise rather than a digitally created scene. The cadence commands heard in the video follow standard U.S. military drill protocol. Trump shared the videos without identifying the unit, location, or date of the exercise.
Military imagery has threaded through Trump’s public communications before. Trump attended the New York Military Academy as a teenager before receiving medical deferments from the Vietnam War draft, according to hindustantimes.com. His use of the theme has spanned rally videos in the 2024 campaign, AI-generated posts in 2025, and now uncommented drill footage — each time drawing on the visual language of uniformed service members carrying out orders.
Zenger analysis
Photo by Zenger analysis
Protomaps / Natural Earth – Vietnam
Photo by Protomaps / Natural Earth – Vietnam
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