Employees of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development today witnessed one of the strangest hacking attacks in recent time. Unknown people hacked the department's internal display system and displayed an AI-generated video of US President Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet. Footage of the incident flooded the social network X.
The video was also accompanied by the caption “Long live the real king.” This is most likely a response to previous statements by the US president. Last week, Trump referred to himself as a king, writing on his social network Truth Social the phrase “Long live the king!” when announcing the cancellation of New York City’s congestion pricing program.
Later, the phrase about the king was picked up by the official White House account in X, adding an illustration depicting Trump in a crown.
Critics call such statements, along with the Trump administration’s actions to shrink the federal government, steps toward a usurpation of power. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by billionaire Elon Musk, has already swept across the federal government, laying off tens of thousands of federal civil servants, from scientists to park rangers, mostly those on probation.
Last week, Trump called on Musk to be “more aggressive” about firing government officials. “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him be more aggressive,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform. “Remember, we have a country that we must save, but ultimately make great again like never before. MAGA!”
Thereafter, Musk said late Saturday that government employees must report to him on the work they did last week, or they will be fired. “In accordance with the instructions of President @realDonaldTrump, all federal employees will soon receive an email asking them to explain what they did last week. Failure to respond will be considered resignation,” Musk wrote on social media X.
That same evening, civil servants began sharing images of an email they received from the human resources department of the Federal Office of Personnel Management, which read: “Please respond to this email by writing approximately 5 points about what you accomplished last week and send a copy to your supervisor.”
The hacking of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s screens appears to be linked to both Trump’s recent statements and Musk’s efforts to force US civil servants to report to him on their work. However, some US agencies, such as the FBI, have already ordered employees not to respond to Musk’s emails.