An AI-generated video of Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk’s feet greeted workers at a government building on Monday.
Hackers projected the 19-second clip on television screens in the cafeteria of the Department Of Housing And Urban Development.
Captioned “Long live the real king,” the footage depicted the US President enthusiastically embracing the feet of billionaire “first buddy” Musk federal on the day federal workers were ordered to return to the office following an executive order bringing an end to working from home.
Video of the hacked screens was shared by a source with Vox reporter Rachel Cohen, who posted it on social media.
HUD spokeswoman Kasey Lovett said: “Another waste of taxpayer dollars and resources.
“Appropriate action will be taken for all involved.”
The clip played on a loop for five minutes inside the building, including in the cafeteria, according to journalist Maria Kabas.
this video of Trump kissing Elon Musk’s feet is playing in the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development cafeteria this morning
— Rachel Cohen (@rmc031) February 24, 2025
(per source @HUDgov) pic.twitter.com/hrojPdLDHQ
“Building staff couldn’t figure out how to turn it off so sent people to every floor to unplug TVs,” Kabas said, quoting an anonymous agency source.
Trump special adviser Musk, the world’s richest man and owner of X and Tesla, is spearheading the new administration’s cost-cutting and anti-fraud Department Of Government Efficiency.
He angered staff by sending an email with the subject line “What did you do last week?” demanding federal workers reply with five accomplishments.
Musk threatened in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that failure to comply would be “taken as a resignation”.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he thought the email was “great”.
