When Americans call the White House comment line this week, they won’t be able to vent their anger over the first government shutdown since 2018.
Instead, they will hear a prerecorded political advertisement—direct from the mouth of President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
“Hello, America, this is White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt,” she breezily greets callers, before adding: “Democrats and Congress have shut down the federal government because they care more about funding healthcare for illegal immigrants than they care about serving you, the American people.
“Until Democrats vote for the clean Republican-backed continuing resolution to reopen the government, the White House is unable to answer your call or respond to your questions.
“We look forward to hearing from you again very soon. And in the meantime, please know President Trump will never stop fighting for you.“
The devout Catholic, 28, signs off: “Thank you and God bless you.”
A video of the White House comment line answering machine message, which is just the latest stunt by the Trump administration amid the shutdown, was posted to X by CNN MAGA pundit Scott Jennings.
Parroting her boss, Leavitt’s prerecorded message frames the standoff as Democrats holding out for immigrant health benefits, a claim fact-checked as false.
Undocumented immigrants cannot access Obamacare subsidies, Medicaid, or Medicare. Democrats say their funding proposal extends Obamacare subsidies for Americans and restores benefits for lawfully present immigrants stripped by the GOP’s July law.
Leavitt’s voice message is just one front in the Trump team’s tacky trolling blitz.
On Wednesday, press briefing room TVs in the White House blared a racist AI-generated video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero set to mariachi music.
“The president is joking, and we’re having a good time,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters, adding that the “sombrero memes will stop” if Democrats reopen the government.
Jeffries has called the video “racist and fake,” while Vance countered: “I honestly don’t even know what that means. Is he a Mexican American that is offended by having a sombrero meme?”
Deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson pledged afterward: “The sombreros will continue until the Democrats reopen the government!”
The White House’s official X account on Wednesday said it planned to make the sombrero “10x bigger... every day Democrats keep the government shut down.”
Trump’s White House has often been used for partisan set pieces.
In September, the West Wing colonnade’s new “presidential walk of fame” featured gold frames and a black-and-white image of Joe Biden’s autopen where his portrait should have hung alongside the pictures of the other presidents.
In August, Barack Obama’s official portrait was stashed at the top of a restricted stairwell, out of public view. And in July, Trump hung a Sharpie-signed proclamation renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
The Daily Beast contacted the White House for comment.
Predictably, an out-of-office message came back: “Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays.
“As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open.”
Three hours later, spokeswoman Abigail Jackson replied to say that the Daily Beast “should do a story on Democrats shutting down the government because they want to give free health care to illegal aliens.”
