At a time when new immigration policies impact millions of lives, The White House chose to reduce the issue to a meme.
The White House’s most recent post features a Valentine’s Day-style card with the message: “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and we’ll deport you” alongside images of President Donald Trump and Tom Hoffman, his so-called “border czar.”
What could be dismissed as an internet joke reveals a deeper truth: politics have devolved into digital shenanigans, where governance is secondary to mockery.
The post’s pastel pink background and playful rhyme might suggest humor, but its message is anything but funny. It turns deportation — a life-altering event for families — into a punchline and further weaponizes the immigration debate.
More than that, it reflects a shift from serious national discussions to memes and trolling.
But this isn’t new for Trump.
His entire political brand had been built on dominance through ridicule. He called Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “Governor” in a thinly-veiled reference to his opinion that Canada should somehow be made the 51st state earlier this year and back in 2016 fought with his now Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the size of his private parts.
Beyond the childish insults is real harm, such as when he claimed America was “anti-white” during his 2024 campaign.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” said Trump during the 2024 Presidential debate, attacking Haitian migrants without evidence and amplifying baseless internet fear mongering. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
Those strategies have now made it to the White House, with official government channels leaving behind conventional messaging in favor of viral internet moments.
A few weeks ago, the official White House account took a jab at Selena Gomez, the actress/singer and most-followed female on Instagram for uploading a story where she was emotionally concerned about mass deportations.
As a response, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a video showing the moms of two women and a 12-year-old girl who were allegedly murdered by unauthorized migrants. A suspect was convicted in only one of the cases.
“The video is a ruse to deceive people and garner sympathy for lawlessness” said Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin who was tragically murdered in 2024. While a Salvadoran national residing in the U.S. without legal status was arrested as a suspect, he has not been convicted and the trial is ongoing.
And after pop star Taylor Swift was booed at the Super Bowl, the sitting President of the United States of America took to the social media platform he owned to mock her, saying his “MAGA” community was very unforgiving.
While one could argue that Trump has always relied on social media theater, it’s alarming to see the highest office in the country devolve into a digital troll account, picking fights with celebrities instead of addressing pressing national concerns.
It just proves that under this administration, immigration was never just a policy issue; it was a spectacle.
So what happens when the highest office in the country cares more about clout than leadership?
Meme culture works amazingly for engagement and sparking discussion, but not for governance. A White House engaged in online trolling is not one that is concerned with foreign policy, inflation, or border reform.
Instead, it is one that promotes division, shifting the attention from its own failures with jokes and internet feuds. Like the jab at Selena Gomez, this most recent immigration meme is not merely bad taste; it’s a decision to move political participation into the land of trolling and entertainment.
Immigration isn’t a punchline. Deportation isn’t a joke. And the White House shouldn’t be an entertainment account, it should be a place where professionalism and politics prevail. Because when our leaders choose memes over meaningful action, the joke isn’t just on immigrants, or Selena Gomez, it’s on all of us.
