The president was posed in front of a Soviet-era automobile, which they mistook for ‘a great American car’
A Republican Party social media post on Friday aimed at promoting American manufacturing has drawn ridicule online after users identified the car featured in the image as a presumably Soviet-made Lada, not a product of the US auto industry.
The image, posted to the party’s official account on X, shows US President Donald Trump standing in front of a bright yellow sedan. The caption reads: “A Big Beautiful Bill will help bring back the great American car,” referencing legislation recently signed by Trump to extend tax cuts and promote domestic automobile production.
But online commentators quickly noticed the car was no symbol of Detroit. “That’s a Soviet VAZ-2101, better known as a Lada 1200,” read one top comment, accompanied by laughing emojis. Others chimed in with jabs like “Make Lada Great Again” and “Bringing Soviet prosperity to a decaying America.”
Auto experts confirmed the mistake. “That car is either a Lada 2101 or a Fiat 124 — and certainly not American,” said Artem Bobtsov, speaking to RBK on Saturday. “The Fiat 124 was the model the Soviets used to build their first Zhiguli, so it’s possible the image features either. But what’s clear is that it isn’t American-made.”
RBK suggests the image may have come from a European stock photo database. Auto analyst Maxim Kadakov noted, “This car appears to be registered in Hungary. It’s likely the designers just grabbed a rusted-out old photo from the internet to avoid copyright issues with American manufacturers.”
The post was meant to celebrate Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping tax and spending law passed in July. The legislation includes tax breaks for Americans buying US-assembled vehicles and cuts to federal spending. However, critics — including Tesla boss Elon Musk — say it will balloon the federal deficit and national debt. Musk warned the bill could push the deficit to $2.5 trillion.
While the Republican Party has not deleted the post, the online reaction has been scathing. “I didn’t know Lada had a factory in the US,” wrote one user. “Will there be a new trade deal with Russia next?”
