The White House has released versions of old video games pushing US President Donald Trump's policies against migrants in America. Photo / Getty Images
US President Donald Trump’s White House has unveiled a website featuring classic arcade games – but with a “MAGA” twist – in which players can deport migrants and build a border wall.
Rights groups were quick to criticise the release of the online games, which come as the Trump administration
steps up its mass arrest and deportation programme for undocumented migrants.
One game called Rio Run – an updated version of the game Snake – features a digital version of US border tsar Tom Homan chasing migrants with different skin colours next to the Rio Grande river on the Mexican border.
Another game based on the block-stacking game Tetris is called Build The Wall. The instructions say: “Protect the border from the coming horde.”
A third involves collecting nets to put in so-called “Trump accounts” – investment accounts containing a $1000 deposit for children born in 2025 through 2028.
The White House account on X posted a video with the logo for video game maker Sega adapted to read MAGA.
the White House said in a statement to AFP: “This administration is laser focused on ways to innovate and tell the story of the President’s many accomplishments in a way that resonates with every American.
“This is an effort to further contrast between a culture of fun and winning and the dark socialist vision Democrats have for America.”
Rights groups criticised the White House for the gaming website.
Amerika Garcia Grewal, co-director of the Frontera Federation in Eagle Pass, Texas, said: “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.
“There’s no attention paid to the quality of life for human beings, both those in their game or those in real life. We who live in the borderlands are US citizens and yet are treated with suspicion and violence,” she added.
The game designers “have lost touch with what it means to be human and care for others”.
Trump campaigned on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants and has taken several actions since returning to power aimed at speeding up deportations and reducing border crossings.
His White House meanwhile has long used social media stunts to ram home its points and troll liberal opponents, and has sparked a backlash from several artists by using their music without permission.
