Federal employees arriving at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday morning were met with an unexpected — and highly controversial — surprise: an AI-generated video depicting President Donald Trump rubbing and kissing Elon Musk’s feet.
The bizarre deepfake played on television screens throughout the HUD building, including in the cafeteria, looping for five full minutes before staff could manually shut it down, The Hill and The Independent have reported.
The video, captioned “Long live the real king,” appears to be a jab at President Trump’s recent Truth Social post where he declared: “Long Live the King!”
The footage appeared to mock the increasingly scrutinized relationship between the POTUS and Musk, whose influence in the administration has ballooned since he was tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The newly created agency has aggressively cut government jobs, including a mass firing of over 20,000 federal employees, and has frozen billions in grants and foreign aid.
READ MORE: Musk Orders All Federal Employees To Respond To Email OR Lose Job
HUD Officials Furious Over Hack
While the AI stunt entertained some, HUD management was far from amused.
“Another waste of taxpayer dollars and resources. Appropriate action will be taken for all involved,” HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett told The Hill and The Independent.
The disruption came on the same day federal employees were ordered back to the office following Trump’s executive order ending remote work.
According to journalist Maria Kabas, HUD staff were initially unable to turn off the video, forcing employees to go floor by floor unplugging TVs to stop the broadcast.
Trump and Musk’s ‘Bromance’ Under Fire
Musk, who has become one of Trump’s most powerful allies, ignited further controversy over the weekend when he ordered government employees to respond to an email listing five achievements from the past week — or be considered as having resigned.
The directive was met with widespread backlash, with multiple agencies — including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Energy — instructing staff to ignore Musk’s demands.
The deepfake video plays into a growing narrative pushed by Trump’s critics that Musk is the real power behind the administration. With Musk bankrolling Trump’s 2024 campaign and overseeing sweeping government layoffs, some claim the billionaire “First Buddy” is calling the shots.
President Trump, however, has dismissed speculation that Musk is running the show, revealing in a recent Fox News interview that Musk called him personally to discuss the growing media attention surrounding their alliance.
“Actually, Elon called me. He said, ‘You know they're trying to drive us apart,’” Trump told host Sean Hannity. “I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
Hannity chimed in, joking: “This is going to be hard. I feel like I'm interviewing the two brothers.”
Despite their public display of unity, some pundits predict that the partnership is doomed to implode.
“The Trump Show is a one-man play,” Politico columnist Jonathan Martin wrote earlier this month. “And there’s not room for anybody else, least of all somebody wealthier and with a (nearly) comparable thirst for attention.”
For now, however, the Musk-Trump alliance remains intact—though the viral AI video suggests that not everyone in Washington is thrilled about it.