As Donald Trump and Elon Musk gear up for another series of seemingly arbitrary cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, at least one staff member is expressing discontent. On Monday morning, coinciding with the Trump administration’s reinstatement of a remote work ban, HUD employees encountered a striking act of digital resistance — or rather, a peculiar “foot” of it.
As shared in videos and photos across social media, televisions located at HUD’s main office in Washington, D.C., were commandeered to showcase an AI-generated video depicting Trump engaging in a suggestive manner with Musk’s bare feet. The phrase “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING” was prominently displayed over the imagery, likely echoing recent comments from Trump and the White House that referred to him as “the king.”
In one viral clip, an employee is heard mentioning that “someone’s gonna get fired.” Independent journalist Marisa Kabas reported that the video looped for approximately five minutes. Exact timing is difficult to verify, as noted by Kabas, since staff struggled to turn off the provocative display simultaneously and had to send individuals to disconnect each monitor manually.
In a statement to The Hill, HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett remarked that the stunt represented “another waste of taxpayer dollars and resources,” adding that “appropriate action will be taken for all involved.”
Relations between federal employees and the Trump administration heightened dramatically over the weekend after Musk — at the helm of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — issued a directive alongside the Office of Personnel Management (OMP) mandating over two million federal employees to submit a list of their workplace achievements from the past week. The billionaire, who employed a similar strategy during his 2022 acquisition of Twitter (now X), warned of termination for any employee who fails to comply with the request.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will soon receive an email inquiring about their accomplishments from last week,” Musk stated. “Failure to respond will be interpreted as a resignation.”
Musk’s efforts to overhaul the federal government and dismiss numerous employees have resulted in significant legal challenges for the Trump administration, encompassing issues related to employment laws, data security, and even the legal standing of DOGE. Despite the billionaire and the former president’s claims of camaraderie — though not necessarily of the foot-loving variety — reports of rising tensions between Musk and the Trump administration continue to emerge.
A source who spoke to The Washington Post last week indicated that “essentially every Cabinet member is fed up with [Elon], but nobody feels empowered to address it.” As reported by The Sunday Times, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is attempting to establish distance between Musk and the president, having reportedly refused to grant Musk an office within the White House.
“I don’t welcome individuals who wish to work alone or seek the spotlight,” the chief of staff conveyed to Axios in January. “My team and I will not tolerate backstabbing, inappropriate second-guessing, or drama. Such behaviors are detrimental to our mission.”
