White House launches policy-themed retro gaming portal
The White House launched an online arcade featuring five retro-inspired video games promoting aspects of President Donald Trump’s policy priorities.
The White House is taking a page from the gaming world. President Donald Trump’s administration has launched an online arcade featuring retro-inspired games designed around some of his signature policy priorities, from border security to children’s savings accounts.
The new “White House Arcade” debuted Sept. 3 with five playable games that resemble classics like Tetris, Snake and Flappy Bird. While the games lean heavily on nostalgia, the message is unmistakably political: Administration officials say they’re meant to showcase Trump’s agenda through what one aide called “policy you can interact with.”
“Enter the arcade of winning,” the White House said about the new Arcade.
The White House told USA TODAY in a statement said the games are “an effort to further contrast between a culture of fun and winning and the dark socialist vision Democrats have for America.”
“The president continues to rack up victory after victory on behalf of the American public, while opponents of his agenda are defending their record of raising taxes and empowering criminal illegal aliens,” added the White House.
Deputy Assistant to the President Kaelan Dorr, in a post on X, described the games as “Policy you can interact with.”
What Trump games are in the White House Arcade?
The White House Arcade is currently offering five games, with a sixth coming soon. They include:
- Build the Wall: In the 1980s-style falling block game, purportedly inspired by Tetris, players attempt to drop blocks in the path of a stream of brightly colored 16-bit immigrants coming over the “Southern Border.” “Stack bricks. Hold the line,” the game says. A failure gets you a “BORDER BREACHED” message.
- Rio Run: Akin to Snake, players control a white man in a suit who must intercept immigrants without crossing over his own path. When an immigrant is captured, they don an orange jumpsuit and begin following the man. At the end, players are informed of how many people they deported.
- Supply Line: In this Tapper-inspired game, players must “sort the school lunch to Make America Healthy Again” by watching food moving past on a conveyor belt and punching off any items with seed oil, colouring (spelled the British way), additives, or that is sealed. “Bare rides. Treated comes off,” the game instructs.
- Flappy Bill: Players, in this game reminiscent of Flappy Bird, control a bald eagle carrying a piece of legislation across the National Mall, avoiding monuments and pillars.
- Trump Savings Tycoon: Players try to “fill your kids’ Trump accounts” by swinging a net to catch money, gold coins, and other items, a nod to the administration savings plan that offers $1,000 to every child born during Trump’s term. In the background, a construction crane can be seen amid the monuments.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.