The White House on Thursday launched a website featuring classic arcade-style video games infused with "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) elements, turning the Trump administration's border policies and achievements into interactive gameplay. Players can experience deporting migrants, building a border wall, and managing investment accounts set up for children — a move that has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations, who accused the administration of "playing games with people's lives."
The website features three games adapted from classic titles. Rio Run, an upgraded version of the classic game Snake, casts players as a digital version of U.S. border czar Tom Homan, chasing migrants of different skin colours along the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border. Build the Wall, adapted from Tetris, challenges players to "Protect the border from the coming horde." The third game, Trump Savings Tycoon, has players collect floating cash to deposit into "Trump Accounts" — the administration's savings plan that provides US$1,000 (about HK$7,800) to every child born between 2025 and 2028.
The White House also posted a promotional video on its official X account, featuring a MAGA logo styled after the iconic SEGA video game company branding, with the caption: "Winning! Keep winning! Build the wall, deport them, fill up those Trump Accounts." In a statement, the White House said the administration is "focused on finding innovative ways to showcase the president's accomplishments," aiming to highlight a culture of "fun and winning" in stark contrast to the "dark socialist vision" painted by Democrats.
The game launch comes as the Trump administration ramps up arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants. Since returning to office, Trump has taken multiple measures to expedite removals, fulfilling his campaign promise to deport millions of illegal immigrants.
However, the website has drawn fierce backlash from human rights groups. Amerika Garcia Grewal, co-director of the Frontera Federation in Eagle Pass, Texas, told AFP: "It makes me sick." "They've been playing games with people's lives for years, now they've made a video game of what they're doing," she said, adding that the administration "doesn't care at all about the quality of life" of the people represented in the games, and that even U.S. citizens living in border communities have faced suspicion and violence as a result.
Related News:
US Supreme Court allows White House ballroom construction to continue
Watch This | Mass shooting in Minnesota, at least 3 dead and 4 injured
Comment