Rising concerns for the credibility of official Executive platforms have been supported by millions of reactions to a White House social media post on Feb. 14, 2025.
The post was a take on a Valentines Day trend, which featured face cutouts of President Donald Trump and his U.S. border czar, Tim Homan, with the text “Roses are red, violets are blue… Come here illegally and we’ll deport you.”
Although the post was excused as an insensitive right-wing joke, people showed concern with the fact that this was posted to the official White House Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook accounts.
Many are left wondering why a post focused on deportation, which often separates families, was chosen over a topic that better aligns with the holiday of love. “Using an insensitive joke rather than any sort of sentiment for the holiday is making their intentions clear,” said senior Grace Ludwig. “It’s obvious that the people are not Trump’s top priority, just appealing to the same businessmen and billionaires like pawns in a chess match.”
The White House accounts continue to attempt popular social media trends due to the increasing presence of political campaign memes throughout 2024 and their large influence on the 2024 election. Later in the month, on Feb. 18, an attempt to appeal to the younger generation was made via an Instagram reel posted by @whitehouse, captioning a video of an ICE deportation with “#ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.”
ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and is defined as “a physical sensation of euphoria and relaxation that’s triggered by specific sounds and feelings.” Meaning, that ASMR is associated with positive experiences and pleasure.
In regards to this association made by the White House social media, senior and political advocate Ryan Pottratz explained, “I think that it is a horrible use of an official social media, especially the lack of a message other than showing videos of people being deported “It’s irrelevant because it doesn’t add much to that movement or the message.”
Additionally, ASMR is typically used to describe inanimate objects and the ‘satisfying’ feelings they give people. This correlation is certainly harmful, as being deported is the opposite from a satisfying experience, showing this administration’s efforts to dehumanize and detach immigrants from the rest of American society.
While the previous posts showed alarm to Americans, the White House social media has concerned many with its AI generated imagery of Trump in a crown on a graphic similar to a “Times” magazine cover, depicting him as the “King” of New York—an obviously false title used to promote the rhetoric of his administration.
Instagram comments on this post included statements from Trump critics, claiming the post is treason, and from people saying they voted for Trump. Instagram user @rebecca.g.ellington said, “Look, I voted for him and even I think this is bad form. Those of us who are staunch Constitutional Conservatives rebuke this even as a joke … We have a Constitution for a reason and we will expect you to honor it.”
The concerns shown due to the Trump administration’s increased presence on social media are clear, and Pottratz believes the normalization of this content is due to algorithms which conceal certain topics and promote others. He explained, “If this [level of propaganda] were to happen at any other time in history, it would’ve been covered all night and all day but because of how our social media is set up, they [posts] aren’t given the light of day.”
Social media algorithm have become more controlled, especially since the owners of large platforms are seemingly in Trump’s back pocket: namely Elon Musk the owner of X, Mark Zuckerberg the CEO of Meta (which controls Instagram, Threads, and Facebook) and most recently, the ownership of TikTok- which due to “President Trump’s Efforts” has been unbanned in the US. Therefore, social media users like Pottratz have seen more content surrounding the Trump Administration, and elevating its ideals, despite their previous anti-Trump algorithms.
With every national and global effort to stand against the actions of the administration, social media platforms have equal efforts to conceal these for American consumers. Pottratz then explains that most people that consume this media don’t advocate for change in the physical-world, due to this lack of activism shown in media, “I think people are dissuaded from causing change because it shows their efforts will go largely unnoticed.”
America is facing a new age of political content which merges news and media with propaganda, creating an unprecedented challenge in American history. With normalized use of social media as a news outlet, more and more people disregard credible and established sources, such as the government databases, unbiased news companies, and real-life experiences.
This shift asks the American people to make a critical decision: to consume unreliable and biased content through social media because that’s what’s easier, or to seek out accredited sources for mindful thinking and awareness. However, what do the people do when said accredited sources like official U.S. government platforms, have too become the pawns in a game of manipulative rhetoric?
