The Trump White House left social media users confused Wednesday night when it posted a pair of bizarre videos on its official X and Instagram accounts, later deleting one.
The first clip, later scrubbed, was posted around 9:15 p.m. ET and showed a pair of someone’s black pointed-toe boots. A woman’s voice could be heard asking: “It’s launching soon, right?” A line of text on the video read, “sound on.”
The second video, posted at 10 p.m. ET and still up as of Thursday morning, depicted a black screen while a single iPhone text message notification chime sounded. An American flag could briefly be seen in one frame. The post included emojis of a smartphone and speaker playing sound.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for further comment or explanation.
The strange message irked commentators from all sides of the political spectrum.
“This communications strategy is inscrutable and obnoxious, and it’s not reassuring anyone. You guys know we’re at war, right?” responded National Review senior writer Noah Rothman. “There have to be at least a handful of people around over the age of 25 that you can run this stuff by first.”
“[A]lways great when the White House official account starts posting creepy snatches of video like they’re outtakes from THE RING,” snarked Rothman’s National Review colleague, Jeff Blehar. “Next one will just be a child’s voice whispering ‘SEVEN DAYS.’”
“This is psychotic behavior,” posted US military veteran John Jackson, a critic of the administration. “We are in a major conflict and they are vagueposting War of the Worlds slop. What is the f— is this supposed to mean?”
Others speculated that the videos were some sort of coded message to the people of Iran, a warning of a tactical nuclear strike, or an announcement about alien activity.
