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Traditionally the White House social media feeds have been a relatively sober way for administrations to communicate with the public. The X and Facebook accounts promote their presidents, but have tended to stop short of full-fledged propaganda.
Not any more. Under Trump’s presidency the White House’s digital communications have blasted past mere propaganda, to a level of bad taste and sycophancy that has shocked observers and prompted concerns that Trump sees himself as a monarch.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” the White House blasted out on X this month. The post featured a fake Time magazine front cover which showed a grinning, svelter-than-real-life Trump wearing a bejeweled gold crown.
The post referenced the Trump administration’s move to stop New York City’s congestion pricing scheme, introduced by the state’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, in January. But the reaction mostly focused on the idea that the White House was promoting the president as a king – something which, for a country that fought a war to escape monarchy, represented a bold move.
“Revoltingly un-American”, Adam Keiper, executive editor of the conservative Bulwark news site, wrote on BlueSky. JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, reacted in a speech in his state’s capitol: “As governor of Illinois, my oath is to the constitution of our state and our nation. We don’t have kings in America, and I won’t bend the knee to one.”
Hochul rebutted both the monarchist aspect and the argument that Trump will overturn the congestion pricing.
“New York hasn’t labored under a king in over 250 years and we sure as hell are not going to start now,” Hochul said in a press conference.
“The streets of the city where battles were fought, we stood up to a king and we won. In case you don’t know New Yorkers, when we’re in a fight, we do not back down, not now, not ever.”
But the regal proclamation was the tip of the iceberg for the White House’s output.
On Wednesday, Trump faced a fresh backlash after he shared an AI-generated video which showed Gaza being from transformed into a glittery coastal city and depicted a topless Trump sipping a cocktail with Benjamin Netanyahu.
Set to a dance track with the lyrics “Trump Gaza is finally here”, the video showed, among other things, a gigantic statue of Trump in the center of a roundabout in the reimagined Gaza, some children being showered in paper money, and a man who looks like Elon Musk eating a sandwich.
It comes after Trump said he wanted the US to “own” Gaza, claiming the strip, which has been devastated by Israeli bombardment, could become the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
It might not even be the most offensive footage Trump has posted in recent weeks.
A video posted this month, captioned “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight”, featured officials laying out chains and shackles beside an airplane, before attaching them to faceless individuals.
“‘YAY! Other people suffering!’ This from the White House official page? America has fallen,” was one of the most liked responses.
ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, a tingling sensation triggered in some people by soft noises, such as whispering, the tearing of paper, or the crinkling of chip packets. The video represented an effort by the White House to get on board with a trend – although ASMR creators were among those unimpressed.
Amy Kay, an ASMR YouTuber, told Huff Post she believed the video was an attempt to “own the libs”.
“Many go to ASMR for the human connection it provides in a disconnected world. It’s a caring and accepting corner of the internet, so seeing it perverted to ‘own’ anyone who happens to have empathy hurts my heart,” Kay said.
Another X post, published on Valentine’s Day, showed a scowling Trump and his “border czar” Tom Homan on a pink card. “Roses are red violets are blue come here illegally and we’ll deport you,” the text said.
In the comments, some pointed to a Washington Post story that reported Musk, who was born in South Africa, worked illegally in the US, and an Associated Press article that alleged Melania Trump, the president’s wife, was paid for modelling jobs in the US before she was legally allowed to work in the country.
Voto Latino, a non-profit organization which encourages Latinos to vote, said the post had been “deliberately crafted to provoke and sow division”, but the struggles of immigrant families were not a joke.
The organization added: “Using a lighthearted holiday to demean and target communities is not only irresponsible – it is beneath the dignity of the presidency.”
The same Trump-as-king photo was also posted to the White House Facebook page – “this is absolutely insane” is currently the most liked response – along with the Valentine’s image.
Kate Berner, who was the White House principal deputy communications director under Biden, told the Associated Press that Biden “never would have allowed us to use language like that”.
“You can communicate aggressively, clearly in the way that real people talk around the country, and not in the way that’s disrespecting or degrading or something that we wouldn’t want our kids to mimic,” she said.
The branding is different from the White House feed under Trump’s first administration. That account was archived on 20 January 2021 after Trump left office, but is still available for viewing. The feed still championed Trump’s achievements, along with regular retweets of Ivanka Trump and Melania Trump. There were favorable media clips and flattering photos of the president. However, there were none of the aggressive memes that have characterized the new feed.
The 2025 style instead fits with the pugnacious first month of the Trump administration, which has been characterized by bombastic gestures which have excited and energized Trump’s base. A second benefit has been to upset, and distract, Democrats – a point made by the Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones on air.
“He is making fun of them! He doesn’t really think he is a king,” Jones said.
“He has mastered making them go crazy. He gives them a little bait, and he knows they’re not gonna focus on the issue. They’re going to focus on the name ‘king’.”
Just one month into Trump’s second term, there will probably be plenty more bait to come.
