The White House has been broadcasting a pair of deepfake videos attacking senior Democrats in its press briefing room on a loop, as the US government shutdown shows no sign of ending. The videos, which have been widely criticised as racist, were previously posted on President Donald Trump's social media account and target Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Reporters in the briefing room were forced to endure repeated screenings of the videos on Wednesday. The move comes as the White House blamed Democrats for the shutdown, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt warning that government agencies are preparing for cuts and that 'layoffs are imminent'. Vice-President JD Vance also used false claims to blame Democrats for the closure.
Mr Schumer and Mr Jeffries, both from New York, accused the administration of retaliating against their constituents by pausing billions of dollars in transportation infrastructure funding. Meanwhile, Oregon's governor, Tina Kotek, said Mr Trump's decision to federalise members of the Oregon National Guard could cost taxpayers up to $10m (£7.7m).
In a separate development, Mr Trump quietly signed an executive order on Monday committing the United States to defend Qatar against any armed attack, echoing the mutual defence pledge of Nato. The order, posted on the White House website on Wednesday, pledges to use all lawful measures, including military action if necessary, to protect the Gulf state. It follows an Israeli strike last month that killed six people, including a member of the Qatari security force.
Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have also released a video explaining why they refused to support the Republican-backed stopgap funding bill. In the video, Ms Ocasio-Cortez says there is 'nothing clean' about the measure, despite its description as a 'clean' continuing resolution.
