Helicopters. Some more helicopters. Men in uniform saluting. Fighter jets over the White House. An American flag. A man staring into the distance. A bald eagle. Pointing. Another American flag. More helicopters. More pointing. More saluting. Thumbs-up pointing. A silhouette.
It could easily have been the trailer for anyone of a seemingly endless stream of Hollywood movies about threats to the life of the American president starring Gerald Butler or Morgan Freeman; instead, it’s a 35-second hype video for the second presidency of Donald Trump.
Even before Trump was officially sworn in as 47th President of the United States on Monday, his team had taken control of the official White House website. Just after midday ET on Monday, visitors were greeted with a graphic of the White House before the autoplaying video took over the entire screen, ensuring that every visitor was clear on just who was now in charge of the country.
When the video finishes, it is replaced by a giant image of Trump pointing into the distance with the words “America is Back” superimposed on top.
“Every single day I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body,” text on the site reads. “I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America.”
An archived version of the website from Sunday shows it previously featured a picture of then-president Joe Biden sitting at his desk in the Oval Office alongside the words “The Biden Presidency.”
As one of his last acts in office, Biden announced in a press release published on the site that he was preemptively pardoning some of his family members to prevent them being charged by “baseless and politically motivated investigations.” The press release has now, however, been removed from the website.
Biden pardoned his brother James and his wife Sara, his sister Valerie and her husband John Owens, and his brother Francis.
When asked about the pardons on Monday, Trump said he wished Biden hadn’t done it, but didn’t want to comment further.