A pair of bizarre videos posted from the White House social media accounts late Wednesday sent social media users into an uproar, leaving many to wonder what was happening inside the White House.
The White House posted a pair of mysterious videos on its official X and Instagram accounts last night, later deleting one.
The first clip, later deleted, was posted around 9:15 p.m. ET and showed a pair of someone’s black pointed-toe boots.
A woman’s voice could be heard asking: “It’s launching soon, right?” A line of text on the video read, “sound on.”
The second video, posted at 10 p.m. ET and still up as of this morning, showed a black screen while a single iPhone text message notification chime sounded.
An American flag could briefly be seen in one frame along with emojis of a smartphone and speaker playing sound.
Take a look at the still live video —
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 26, 2026
The bizarre video message angered some journalists and commentators, who took to social media to express their frustration.
“This communications strategy is inscrutable and obnoxious, and it’s not reassuring anyone. You guys know we’re at war, right?” responded National Review senior writer Noah Rothman.
“There have to be at least a handful of people around over the age of 25 that you can run this stuff by first.”
“[A]lways great when the White House official account starts posting creepy snatches of video like they’re outtakes from THE RING,” snarked Rothman’s National Review colleague, Jeff Blehar. “Next one will just be a child’s voice whispering ‘SEVEN DAYS.’”
“This is psychotic behavior,” posted US military veteran John Jackson, a critic of the administration. “We are in a major conflict and they are vagueposting War of the Worlds slop. What is the f— is this supposed to mean?”
Others speculated more wildly that the videos were some sort of coded message to the people of Iran, a warning of a tactical nuclear strike, or an announcement about alien activity.
The White House did not comment on the videos — or the nature of the content — at the time of publication.