Trump Admin Tries To Embrace Gen Z Slang & People Have Secondhand Embarrassment

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People have been complaining that the Trump administration’s social media posts do not come across as professional or serious. The White House has been known to share AI-generated memes, joke about President Donald Trump being a king or Pope, and publicly bash celebrities who don’t support the Trump administration’s use of their music. Trump has also used his social media platform to threaten other countries.

There’s been some debate about who is to blame for all of this. After all, Trump and his cabinet members share offensive and/or embarrassing AI-generated content via their personal accounts as well. At the same time, some reports have suggested that Trump does not post all of his personal content himself.

When both Trump and Vice President JD Vance sparked backlash due to their social media activity, staffers were blamed for the blunders. Somehow, people have also tried to blame Barron Trump for some of this administration’s questionable posting strategies, given his young age and presumed social media literacy. Now, people have questions again because the Trump administration is trying to use cringeworthy Gen-Z slang.

The U.S. Department of the Interior recently posted about “auramaxxing.”

And if they did so in an attempt to appeal to a young audience, it doesn’t appear to be working. “We’re auramaxxing Washington, D.C. ahead of America’s 250th birthday,” the X post read. “@SecretaryBurgum recently ordered the massive Arts of War and Arts of Peace equestrian statues for regilding for the first time since 1971. The restoration is part of @POTUS’s effort to make the Nation’s Capital safe and beautiful.”

Even some of the people who appreciate that these statues will be regilded had an issue with the way the Trump administration made this announcement on social media. “Love the restoration,” one person commented on the post. “You can take a blowtorch to the word ‘auramaxxing,’ though.”

Someone else said, “I’m already getting annoyed by people adding MAXXING TO WORDS.”

And others were far more critical.

Some critics saw the post as another example of how the Trump administration needs to “grow up” (even though Trump is nearly 80 years old and some of his cabinet members are not exactly young, either). They’re not convinced that anyone in the Trump administration would actually be able to explain what “auramaxxing” means.

“Can you please stop using childish meme verbiage?” a critic commented on the post. “Wtf is happening? Grow up.” Another person wrote, “Please tell me the name of a single person in the Dept. of Interior that ever used the term ‘auramaxxing.’ This is just embarrassing.”

“This administration is literally not serious,” someone else added. “The fact that they’re actually saying ‘auramaxxing’ makes it so tacky , cringe, and repulsive already. Congrats, you tried too hard and of course, because you’re filled with a bunch of spiritual boomers, are unrelatable.”

To be fair, “auramaxxing” might be better than the words Trump has made up, like “panican” and “Dumocrat.”

Critics recently complained that ‘Redditors’ appear to be running the country.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung has basically admitted to trolling people on social media to increase engagement. The White House sparked backlash in May when its official account shared a lengthy tribute to Harambe. After seeing that post, critics felt conflicted over whether the White House’s social media is managed by a Gen Z intern or “60-year-old Redditors.”

But remember: the White House doesn’t have a “social media problem” — according to Karoline Leavitt, anyway.

Paige Sheffield (she/her)