“We’re over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude,”
The administration’s TikTok-style mash-up videos of missile strikes spliced into movie clips and video games — along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attack-style language at Pentagon press conferences — have gobsmacked those with a more traditional view of how a government should sound during a time of war. But this modern media strategy is achieving what the White House appears to prioritize: audience engagement.
“Over a four day period, the videos that we put out had over 3 billion impressions,” said a senior White House official, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the administration’s communications strategy. “That blows away anything we’ve ever done in the second term.”
The effort is part of a “both/and” wartime communications strategy that, as is often the case with this White House, cares little about presidential precedent or polite sensibilities. More than a half-dozen videos put out by a small cadre of very online White House communications staffers, tasked with sharing the kind of content that populates their private group chats, have driven the conversation.
But former officials have grimaced at the videos, be they the “Here comes the Boom” edit of NFL defensive players tackling others on offense in brutal fashion (captioned “Touchdown”), or other TikTok-style clips with MLB home runs, Grand Theft Auto, and featuring movies such as “Iron Man,” “Top Gun” and “Gladiator.”
“I don’t think the performance of our men and women in uniform requires embellishment from Hollywood or computer games,” said Joe Votel, a former Central Command chief during the first Trump administration. “They represent the American people quite well on their own.”
Some who have worn a uniform and sent troops into battle feel that the glib, gamer-ized packaging minimizes — and shows little respect for — the gravity of war.
“It just seems detached from reality,” said retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a two-star general who commanded U.S. troops in Europe during President Barack Obama’s second term. “Our allies look at this and they wonder, what the hell is going on. It doesn’t look like we’re serious.”
Since the war began three weeks ago, the president and aides have orchestrated a flurry of messages through different platforms — many, like the videos, tailored to specific audiences.
Trump has pushed freewheeling messages in dozens of ad hoc interviews with reporters who are dialing his personal cell phone and other public appearances. Hegseth, often joined by Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine, has echoed the president’s bombast, declaring a series of triumphs even as he declines to describe what an American victory might look like.
The White House says it’s a winning message. “Polls show that a lot of young people are actually somewhat supportive of this war and our goal is to deliver content to them,” said the senior White House official, who is involved in the video efforts. “What we’re doing is not disrespecting the American troops. To the contrary, we’re highlighting all the great work — the heroic work that they’ve been doing with these videos. We do it in a way that captivates an audience.”
No previous administration ever tried to sell a war by making a video of legendary bowler Pete Weber landing a strike using computer-generated bowling pins to represent Iran’s military — all to a Lynyrd Skynyrd soundtrack. But past administrations didn’t exist in the age of incessant group chats, TikTok and AI.
“We use every tool in our toolbox to ensure there’s proper messaging to correct the record, but also give our allies the ability to help sell our message,” the official said. “Like what is ‘war communications’? What the former Bush people say? Well, if you want to talk about war communication under the Bush era — not great. ‘Mission accomplished’? It’s just a different time. It’s a different audience.”
A second senior White House official who is also closely involved in the video-making effort described it as a collegial, creative endeavor. “We’re over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude,” said the person, also granted anonymity to speak candidly. “There’s an entertainment factor to what we do. But ultimately, it boils down to the fact that no one has ever attempted to communicate with the American public this way before.”
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We live , tragically, in a seriously degraded country.
Trump Aides Give Jaw-Dropping Defense of Childish War Videos
White House aides have boasted about their “banger memes” getting billions of views while the Iran war widens and oil prices surge.
With no end to the conflict in sight, President Donald Trump’s team has turned its focus to TikTok-style war clips, stitching real strike footage to movie scenes, sports highlights, and video-game imagery.
One senior official bragged to Politico that the videos racked up more than 3 billion impressions in four days. Another described the effort in toe-curling terms : “We’re over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude,” the outlet quoted them as saying .
That's Entertainment ... redux version.
Maybe I'm imagining things, but isn't war supposed to be serious?
I notice there is nada from the conservatives here on this.
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The article quotes a White House aides as saying "“There’s an entertainment factor to what we do." talking about the war.
Do you think this war is entertainment?
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Bullshit! If they are so supportive why aren't recruitment numbers up?