The Dictatorship
Can the White House’s flood-the-zone social strategy win the shutdown?
White House digital staffers have unleashed a social media strategy full of taunting memes and fake videos, following President Donald Trump’s lead in a bid to bolster his base as the government shutdown drags on.
The amped-up tactics are meant to mock Democrats for their proposal to reverse recently passed restrictions on Medicaid, which the GOP falsely claims pays for health care for undocumented immigrants. The memes include a recurring stunt of placing animated sombreros atop images of Democratic leaders.
Democrats, for their part, have not responded in kind on social media. Instead, they have mostly stuck to sharing their segments on cable news, and posting explainer videos on the health care tax credits they’re pushing to extend in negotiations. They’ve also continued to criticize the president’s social media activity.
Which approach wins out in the minds of voters and vulnerable lawmakers could help determine how long the shutdown continues and which party ultimately gets more of what it wants.
The online attacks underscore a social media apparatus surrounding Trump that reflects his own personal digital habits and brazen approach to politics. His aides are “very much in tune with President Trump’s style, which is ‘controversy enhances message,’ and social media helps enhance that controversy,” said Bryan Lanza, a former Trump campaign senior adviser.
That was “a theory in Trump 1.0,” Lanza added, a reference to the president’s first term. “It’s just become a proven fact in Trump 2.0,” he said.
Case in point: In a late-night post on his preferred platform, Truth Social, Trump shared a video showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — the first Black person to hold that job — wearing a fake sombrero and curled mustache outside the West Wing. It was also artificially manipulated to depict Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer delivering remarks and using profanities degrading his own party that Schumer never said.
That post came hours after an unfruitful meeting between party leaders in the Oval Office about the budget standoff, and it instantly caught heat from Democrats. “It’s disgraceful. It’s racist,” Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said in a confrontational exchange caught on camera with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who replied saying it was “not my style.”
In a news conference the following day, a defiant Jeffries dared the president, “The next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face.”
It’s unclear who created the video. Trump is known to repost content from his supporters online, but BLN could not identify whether the video was originally shared by another user before it was posted to the president’s personal account. Regardless, after it generated headlines and provoked Democrats, the White House seized on the imagery on its own official social platforms.
The sizes of the sombreros have gotten progressively larger in subsequent posts, an intentional choice by Trump’s team. One Instagram post featured Sesame Street’s Elmo screaming with bright-red flames behind him and donning a sombrero. “We are doubling down,” a slide on the same post reads, with a smiley face.
On Friday, the White House and a handful of other agencies joined Bluesky, an alternative platform to X, where users tend to lean progressive. The trolling continued over the weekend, with the White House posting images of Trump and Vice President JD Vance wearing crowns — above more images of Jeffries and Schumer in sombreros — while large crowds protested Trump’s agenda across the country in a demonstration dubbed “No Kings.”
After Trump’s account posted a fake video of him flying a plane dumping a substance that appeared to be excrement or sewage on demonstrators, Democratic influencer Harry Sisson asked on X: “Can a reporter please ask Trump why he posted an AI video of himself dropping poop on me from a fighter jet? That would be great thanks.”
The memes come against the backdrop of the administration pursuing a widespread mass deportation effort of undocumented immigrants in major cities, a campaign that detractors argue disproportionately targets Latino communities.
In its first posts on Blueskythe State Department wrote, “We also heard this is a great place to research visa revocations.”
Democrats remain muted
Elected Democrats have largely refused to take the bait. California Gov. Gavin Newsomwho scored attention a few weeks ago with a series of social posts mimicking Trump’s exclamation point-laden and all-caps postings, has had a few viral shutdown clips. But his peers have mostly preferred not to hit back sharply online.
Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist who worked on Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, said Democrats “come off looking like a scold” by complaining “about something that’s clearly meant to be funny.” Still, Wilson acknowledged, the Democratic Party’s base “would be very upset with them if they weren’t out there saying, ‘This is wrong.’”
The Democratic National Committee did share a video of kittens explaining the shutdown on TikTok, with 4.4 million views as of Monday, showing a cat crying over higher health care bills.
There are signs that the staid approach is resonating: A CNBC survey of Americans conducted between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12 found 53% said they would blame Trump and Republicans if the shutdown “were to cause significant economic damage.”
“When you have people like Mike Johnson and Donald Trump saying the words ‘Affordable Care Act,’ or saying the words ‘health care,’ then you know that Democrats are the ones driving the narrative,” said Parker Butler, a digital strategist for Democratic campaigns. “I think this is one of the few examples in this past year where I think we’ve seen that.”
Is the White House plan working?
The key question is whether the White House’s shutdown social strategy is catered to Trump’s core or meant to win over the broader public. The answer matters, given the president faces an uphill battle to convince voters that Democrats are responsible for the lapse in government funding that has caused air-travel disruptions, museum closures and missed paychecks for thousands.
Butler says the White House is “basically preaching to the choir,” suggesting that the sombrero memes, for example, don’t resonate with “persuadable voters.”
“You can see that with the polling,” he added.
The White House account’s recent tone resembles that of a campaign. Trump outperformed his rivals on social platforms like TikTok in 2024. Previous administrations, including former President Joe Biden’s staff, have also made eye-catching social-media posts that are typically unusual for official accounts, where posts tend to be more informational and generic, though still fawning. But Trump’s staff is taking bigger swings online, more often.
“They understand that flooding the zone is what works,” Wilson said of Trump’s White House. “I still communicate with my friends with memes, and funny YouTube videos, and so the fact that the White House is doing that as well just shows that they understand how conversations happen.”
Sometimes the president’s social media activity complicates his communication team’s messaging. Trump posted an ominous AI-generated video portraying his Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought — who is spearheading mass layoffs of federal employees — as the grim reaper. That ran starkly counter to his press secretary describing the firings as “an unfortunate consequence,” and his chief economist saying the administration doesn’t “want anyone to lose their job.”
Humor and memes “can be an effective strategy, but there has to be a little bit of tact behind it,” Butler said. “I don’t think that they’ve shown that in this shutdown battle.”
It doesn’t seem like the president’s social team is slowing down any time soon. As Vance told reporters Oct. 1 in a comment addressed to Jeffries: “If you help us reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop.”
Akayla Gardner is a White House correspondent for BLN.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran again launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrainand Kuwaiton Sunday following new U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” in negotiations to end the warif Washington continues its attacks.
Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuzwithout Iran’s oversight has sparked days of crossfire. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday it would expand a route near Omanfor inbound and outbound traffic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday reiterated the claim that Tehran must govern the strait to the Persian Gulfthat once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.
“Any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and increase the level of tension,” Araghchi said.
The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels going through a route near the Omani side.
A Pakistani official involved in the technical talks between the U.S. and Iran told MS NOW Sunday that talks between the sides are on hold given the ongoing fighting between the two sides. The source, who did not want to be named to discuss the sensitive matter, said the U.S., Iran, Pakistan and Qatar all have representatives currently in Switzerland to restart discussions when instructed to do so.
But the Trump administration said nothing has been canceled and technical talks are on track for the coming days.
Talks include arrangements around the strait, the removal of a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran, and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The two sides have 60 days from their signing of the memorandum of understanding earlier this month to work out details.
Continued conflict in Lebanon threatens the agreement, which says fighting must end on all fronts before certain issues can be discussed.
Strikes target Gulf states hosting US military
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Kuwait, which hosts a major U.S. military base, said air defenses intercepted Iranian drones and two missiles just after the U.S. strikes in Iran. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Bahrain said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport and no one was killed. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. The damaged building was not near its headquarters.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry denounced what it called “a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression.”
Later on Sunday, Qatar said a civilian had been killed, and another person was hurt, by shrapnel related to “military operations in the area” after a vessel didn’t return at its scheduled time on Saturday. It did not give details.
Trump accuses Iran of violating ceasefire
The U.S. military said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship on Saturday. The Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, another key mediator.
U.S. President Donald Trump on social media accused Iran of violating the deal and warned of a point where the U.S. may “be forced to militarily complete the job.”
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote.
The exchanges of fire began when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vesseloff Oman on Thursday and the U.S. military retaliated.
Ship traffic on the strait had increased over the past 72 hours, “despite the elevated threat environment,” the multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that “U.S.-assisted commercial transits continued uninterrupted.”
It said 89 such transits had been made, below the historical average of 138 vessels a day.
Iran calls for new ‘conflict control unit’ in Lebanon
Last week, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreementto end the latest fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, which began two days after the Iran war started when Hezbollah fired at Israel. Israel has responded with an invasion of southern Lebanon and it has said it will not withdraw until Hezbollah is disarmed.
The agreement did not include Iran or Hezbollah, which has criticized itand rejected calls to disarm.
On Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister again said the U.S. must force Israel to halt attacks and withdraw. Israel occupies around 600 square kilometers (231 square miles) in southern Lebanon, which it says it needs as a security buffer.
Sporadic clashes have continued, and Hezbollah’s leader said Saturday that the group would continue fighting until Israel withdraws from Lebanon.
Key Iranian negotiator and parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Sunday that a meeting of a new “conflict control unit” formed among Iran, the United States and Lebanon should meet as soon as possible, Iran’s state broadcaster reported.
Two strikes hit southern Lebanon on Sunday morning — one in Taybeh town and the other in the Nabatiyeh area, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Overnight, Hezbollah militants killed an Israeli soldier in Deir Siryan village in southern Lebanon, according to Israel’s military. Hezbollah did not comment.
Israel targets a village in Syria
Israel’s military targeted Abdin village in southern Syria’s Daraa province with artillery shelling Sunday evening, Syrian state media reported. There was no immediate report of casualties.
State news agency SANA earlier reported that residents had blocked the road into the village with stones to prevent Israeli forces from entering it again after they had entered and withdrawn.
Earlier Sunday, Israel’s military said it had killed several armed men in southern Syria but gave no details. There was no statement from Syrian officials.
Israel seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria in December 2024 following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in an insurgent offensive. Israeli officials initially called the move temporary, but more recently they have said they plan to occupy the zone indefinitely.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has a message for political opponents using him as the new face of the Democratic Party: “Let them.”
Recent primary races in New York turned into a proxy war between progressives, including democratic socialists like Mamdani, and establishment Democratic politicians after candidates endorsed by Mamdani faced off against those endorsed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. After all three of Mamdani’s endorsements bore fruit, a national spotlight shone on the mayor as a growing influence in the Democratic Party.
Asked on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday how he felt about Republicans making him the “poster child” for the Democratic Party, Mamdani said, “Let them. We don’t have to ask ourselves what life looks like if a socialist wins. I won last November, and over the course of these last six months, what we’ve delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible.”
He touted recent campaign promises he delivered on, including freezing rents for nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments, expanding free child care and filling potholes across the city.
“I think we are seeing a hunger that is not just felt by New Yorkers, but frankly by Americans from coast to coast for a new politics, one that puts working people at the heart of it,” Mamdani told ABC.
Mamdani dismissed criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said last week that he and the mayor “agree to strongly disagree about some of his endorsements, and he’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward.” Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said, “The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail.”
Mamdani said he’s focused on the three congressional candidates he has already endorsed: Brad LanderDarializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez. But he didn’t rule out future endorsements outside of New York.
“It’s not just New York City where working people are asking themselves ‘why can’t I afford my rent, why can’t I afford my groceries, why can’t I find enough money in my pocket for childcare no matter how hard I work?,’” Mamdani said.
When asked about a recent manifesto penned by a number of moderate House Democrats and Democratic candidates, promoting capitalism over socialism, Mamdani doubled down on his vision for the party.
“I’m not interested in writing a manifesto, or frankly, in reading one,” the mayor said. “I’m interested in delivering.”
Mamdani also criticized Democrats who continue to make antagonizing Trump the center of their politics rather than working people.
“You’ve got to have something that you are not just willing to stand up for, but that you’re also willing to explain how this is relevant to working people,” he said. “And I think this just comes back to the fact that I’m leading a city that’s the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. I could end the sentence there and say that life is great for 8.5 million people. But it’s also a city where one in four are living in poverty. And for far too many Americans, those contradictions have become their day to day life.”
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Despite remaining undefeated in the initial round of the World Cupthe Iran national team is going home after failing to secure enough points to advance. But they do not leave quietly.
Iran’s tumultuous journey in the World Cup has been the subject of widespread attention amid the U.S. war with Iran, with the United States being one of three countries hosting matches. The Iranian team captain, Mehdi Taremi, blamed FIFA, saying, “It’s a disaster World Cup. A disaster.”
“I mean, FIFA, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately they could not solve it since the beginning,” Taremi said at a press conference Friday after his team drew with Egypt, knocking Iran out of the tournament.
He pointed to the team’s biggest obstacle. “We don’t have our logistics people here. They don’t have a visa,” Taremi said, adding, “We always complain about these things but no one helps. No one.”
The Trump administration denied visas to key Iranian staff and severely restricted players’ travel. The team’s base camp was moved from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, where it was required to return immediately after each game.
“How is it possible we always have to travel from Tijuana? We love the people in Tijuana. We love Mexico,” the Iran team captain said, but added, “It’s not fair.”
Throughout the tournament, the Football Federation of Iran lamented the number of issues, threatening to lodge a formal complaint against FIFA. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei called his team the “most oppressed” in the tournament. A few days before Iran’s final match against Egypt in Seattle on Friday, the U.S. loosened travel restrictions to allow players to enter the United States two days before the game.
“The Iran team will still be required to leave the day the match ends,” the Department of Homeland Security said ahead of the match. “The overall security measures and protocol are the same. We remain committed to providing the safest tournament possible for players, staff, and fans alike.”
Still, Iran finished Group G in third place with three points earned after drawing in its matches against Belgium, New Zealandand Egypt. Under FIFA’s new 48-team format, the top eight of third-place teams move on to the next round, but Iran narrowly fell short.
The team initially seemed poised to advance when it was tied with the same amount of points as Algeria, which scored a goal in stoppage-time against Austria Saturday night. But moments later, Austria tied the game, guaranteeing Iran’s elimination.
Off the field, tensions with Iran heightened Friday when the U.S. struck Iran despite signing a memorandum of understanding meant to halt hostilities in order to finalize a peace deal.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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