A post captioned “roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we’ll deport you.” An image posted of President Donald Trump in a crown captioned “long live the king.” An A.S.M.R. (autonomous sensory meridian response) post of immigrant deportation.
These posts have been made by both President Trump and the official White House Instagram page and have received a large response from followers.
The first post stirring controversy was a Valentines greeting card. On a day usually celebrated for its loving themes, the White House account posted photos of President Trump and the Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tom Homam, with a caption saying, “roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we’ll deport you.”
“I worry that this is a really offensive piece of media. Deportation is not something that people should chuckle about,” We The People member Gunnar Eklund ’26 said. “This is something impacting several lives at a large scale.”
Days after that controversial post, Trump’s administration revoked federal approval for New York congestion pricing, voiding a $9 toll that drivers pay to enter Manhattan south of 60th street. Shortly after, Trump posted on X “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” This quote was later added to a Time Magazine illustration of Trump in a crown, and posted on the White House instagram; some interpret this as a monarchical statement.
“In my opinion, I think that [the post] is going too far,” social studies teacher Robert Shamberg said. “That is directly against the constitution. Our framers wrote the Constitution to protect us against tyrants or kings, and that’s too far because he’s almost daring the American audience to do something.”
Lastly, the White House posted a controversial instagram post with the caption reading “ASMR alien deportation flight.” ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, which is essentially something visually or audibly aesthetic and usually associated with stress-reducing sounds like clicks of a pen or popping a pop-it.
“Trump is using the media to his advantage by sharing what the Republican party is interested in hearing to continue their support,” Alexa Beyda ’27 said.
Trump supporters have seen this post and provided their feedback in the comments, however, this post was not seen as the joke that was intended by some responders.
“I’m a conservative, Christian citizen of the U.S., I voted for safer borders,” a commenter under the A.S.M.R. post said, “…We need a better system for good people to enter our country and make it even greater. But this is awful. Do better White House. This is not what I voted for.”
