The Trump administration launched a series of arcade-style games on the official White House website Thursday to tout its priorities — the latest turn in its aggressive online effort to troll Democrats that has at times surfaced racist and offensive images. The White House’s online arcade includes games where players capture people at the southern border and build a border wall . In the game “Rio Run,” users “patrol the line” along the Rio Grande and “pick up every crosser in the lot” to earn a high score of deportations. The user icon in the Snake-style game is an older White man in a blue tie, and the “crossers” appear to be Brown, Black or White. When the player catches one of the “crossers,” they suddenly appear in an orange jumpsuit and follow behind the player. Another immigration-themed game, styled like the old-school Tetris game, is called “Build The Wall” and asks users to stack bricks and “hold the line” against a “zombie border siege.” After the White House put it out, the Tetris brand posted on Instagram that it was not involved in the game’s creation and added, “We take copyright infringement very seriously.” “At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” the post said. Other games prompt users to fly a bald eagle along the National Mall or fill their “kids’ Trump accounts” by catching diamonds and cash. A White House official told CNN, “this is an effort to further contrast between a culture of fun and winning and the dark socialist vision Democrats have for America.” Trump and the White House have drawn sharp criticism for their aggressive use of social media and official government platforms– including by using racist and offensive images, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero and the Obamas depicted as apes in a jungle. While some people are posting their scores from the White House’s arcade games on X, others are questioning the administration’s priorities given the Iran war and high cost of living. In November, CNN reported on Trump 2.0’s unconventional approach to the White House website, with one official saying, “The website is informative in a lot of different ways, but it’s also a vehicle to push our message, and we’re able to weaponize it in a way that no other administration has been able to do.” Lou Kesten, The Associated Press
