An auto-playing video on the White House's new website begins with the pulsing of helicopter blades. Flags, salutes and a lone vulture glided across the sky. Despite a brave thumbs-up from President Donald Trump, no one smiled. In its ecstasy of American power, it might as well be a Michael Bay blockbuster. It even has its own slogan: "America is Back."
If the beginning of Trump’s first term was marked by administrative chaos and public disdain for the liberal great and good, his second term has become more diplomatic. Establishment resistance has diminished, and Trump’s vision of leadership has been neatly packaged. Online, he's part action hero ("I'll fight tooth and nail for you") and part stubborn CEO.
Remodeling whitehouse.gov and erasing all traces of its last occupants is now as much of a presidential tradition as redecorating the White House. It provides better insight than custom rugs and Diet Coke buttons. The new venue is as dark as the lobby of Trump Tower but has a streamlined, orderly layout. In his official portrait, the president's narrowed gaze and raised eyebrows look like a still from his reality show apprentice. It's a far cry from the cheerful smile he sported during his first term.
The message being spread is that Trump Administration 2.0 is ready for a fight. On Facebook, the official White House account claimed in a post that nothing can stop us.
Beyond the promise of "unleashing" American energy and ending inflation, some of the most telling clues lie in what's gone. When Joe Biden became president in 2021, the website added the pronoun option "they/them" to its contact form. It also disperses hidden information throughout the code, aiming to attract software engineers who might want to work for the government. Francis Arnold, a professor at the California Institute of Technology and former co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, noted that among them was this quote: "Hope trumps fear. Unity is better than division. Science is better than fiction. Truth is better than lies."
The new website removes any pronouns other than he and she. The Spanish translation is also gone. So are all the references to climate change — except for Trump’s pledge to end the “extremism” of the previous administration and withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
Everything is sleek, minimalist, and commanding. The National Archives preserves a "frozen" version of the previous White House website, and you can see how user-friendly Bill Clinton's taupe, blog-style website was by comparison. Access was enhanced for ordinary Americans, with users having the opportunity to "e-mail" the president (Clinton was the first U.S. president to send an e-mail, although he claimed to have only sent two). It also provides an explanation of the site itself for those who are confused about what they are looking at: "Documents can be found by people around the world using an Internet service called the World Wide Web (WWW)."
Moving on to the George W. Bush administration, the site was more austere, suitable for posts about the war on terror. It pays tribute to the American people's character of "keeping calm in times of danger." By the 2010s, Barack Obama's sunny version reflected advances in digital photography and the rise of an Instagram aesthetic. It features images of the smooth green White House lawn.
The United States was one of the first countries to create government websites and is the only country that can use "gov" as a unique domain name. Despite this, according to a United Nations survey, it ranks 19th on the list of the best and most useful government websites. Number one is Denmark, which welcomes visitors with: "We were once wild Vikings. Now we are one of the most peaceful societies in the world." Cycling and gender equality posts take precedence. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has a lean resume and little else.
In the UK, the Number 10 website is similarly low-key, featuring a history of Sir Keir Starmer, a rather embarrassing photo of the Prime Minister and posts about his government's plans. There’s no video featuring the Red Arrows, or a proud British bulldog – more of a shame. On X day, the Prime Minister’s official account released a series of dry statements. It's decidedly less interesting than Larry the Cat No. 10's unofficial outpouring.
The rest of the world should take note of Trump's showmanship. The lesson from the White House's latest website revamp is that visual messages can be just as effective as verbal ones.
elaine.moore@ft.com