The White House quietly rolled out a short video that was meant to play as humor — but within hours, it vanished, leaving behind a fast-growing backlash and renewed questions about how far President Donald Trump and his administration are willing to go when it comes to the press.
The now-deleted, AI-generated clip, which appeared last Thursday on X, TikTok, and the White House’s official website, depicted Santa Claus flipping through a scroll labeled “Naughty List,” filled with the names of journalists and mainstream media outlets Trump has repeatedly attacked.
The post was accompanied by text reading “MEDIA OFFENDERS ON THE NAUGHTY LIST,” before it was taken down. Visitors attempting to view the video later encountered a notice stating: “Video unavailable. This video has been removed by the uploader,” according to reports.
A Google search of the White House page showed a video thumbnail matching clips preserved by social media users, confirming the video had briefly lived on official government platforms before disappearing amid public outrage.
In the clip, Santa chuckles “ho ho ho” as he unrolls the list, which includes MS NOW reporters Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian, CNN’s Jake Tapper, and reporters from CBS News, Axios, and The Bulwark.
The soundtrack is the holiday classic “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” with the lyric “You better watch out” playing as the names appear — an element many critics said gave the video the tone of a warning rather than a joke.
The video closes with the message “Better luck next year,” followed by a sign-off reading: “The White House, President Donald J. Trump”
In the video, photos of journalists and major news outlets were pinned on a cork board. While some supporters dismissed it as a holiday joke, many felt it fit into the administration’s broader effort to single out media outlets it accuses of bias.
Critics were far less amused. “This is a blacklist,” wrote social media influencer The Maine Wonk, saying the video was “quickly deleted…after getting serious backlash.”
Brian Allen echoed the concern, warning, “This isn’t a joke. It’s a blacklist. Authoritarians always start by mocking the press… then labeling them… then listing them. We’re now on step two. History has seen this movie before and it never ends well.”
Some journalists named in the video responded with defiance. The Bulwark’s Tim Miller congratulated his colleague Adrian Carrasquillo for making the list, writing, “Huge congrats,” before adding, “(ooh we are really quaking in our boots on that one nerds).” Justin Kanew’s The Tennessee Holler described the list as one “showing who is doing their jobs.”
Legal experts expressed alarm. Joyce Vance, a professor of law, MS NOW legal analyst, and former U.S. attorney, reacted by writing, “How positively…authoritarian.”
Online reactions quickly escalated beyond outrage to historical comparisons. One widely shared comment drew a direct parallel to Nazi Germany: “The Nazis maintained the Schwarze Listen — A blacklist of journalists they considered unreliable or dangerous. Hitler later killed some of these journalists.”
Commenters argued the video crossed a fundamental line because it came from official government accounts. Critics stressed that the White House’s platforms belong to the American people, not a political campaign or the Trump Organization, making the targeting of journalists especially dangerous.
Anger also focused on the communications staff who created the video using artificial intelligence. “Whoever is in charge of The White House’s social media accounts, and these inappropriate, targeted posts should be FIRED. This is completely unacceptable! It’s irresponsible, and could very well be putting those people listed in real danger, and I have no doubt it’s intentional.”
Some users even tagged Canadian singer Michael Bublé, whose version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” was featured in the clip. “Come reclaim your music from these stupid fascists,” one person wrote. Another pleaded, “please tell them to stop using your song to push their fascist agenda!”
Predictions of darker consequences followed. “The White House putting out a hit list of journalists is an act of domestic terrorism! We’re heading towards a conflict with the regime that will dwarf J6. They’re asking for it!”
The deleted video did not emerge in isolation. Two weeks ago, the White House unveiled a “Media Bias” page on its official website, promising to track what it labeled “false, misleading, or biased” coverage.
The page featured a sortable list of 31 alleged “offenses” across 21 outlets, including the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Politico. Stories were categorized under headings such as “Bias,” “Malpractice,” “False Claim,” and “Lie.” Within hours, the site was pulled offline after errors were spotted, undercutting the administration’s stated purpose.
Together, the tracker and the Santa video represent a continuation of Trump’s long-running war on the press. The former reality TV headliner’s contentious relationship with the Fourth Estate was established long before his entry into politics, with his failed lawsuit against writer Tim O’Brien over suggestions in a 2005 biography that the future president had exaggerated his net worth being just one example.
Trump’s return to the White House this year has seen him sue multiple major media outlets, such as CBS, ABC, and The Wall Street Journal over reporting he didn’t like. Media outlets have already been removed from Pentagon access for refusing to sign a pledge giving the Defense Department prior approval of coverage. Earlier this year, The Associated Press was excluded from the Oval Office and Air Force One press pools after refusing to adopt the administration’s directive renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has defended the broader campaign, writing, “The Trump White House is holding the Fake News accountable like never before.”
Great Job A.L. Lee & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
