President Trump has shared a largely AI-generated music video on Truth Social that depicts Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, one of the architects of the conservative Project 2025 plan, as the Grim Reaper.
Newsweek contacted the White House press office for comment on Friday via email outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
The U.S. government has been in a partial shutdown since Wednesday as neither Republicans nor Democrats have the 60 Senate votes to get their spending bills through the Senate.
Speaking on Wednesday Trump described the shutdown as an “opportunity” to “clear out dead wood” amid suggestions he could slash the federal workforce. By sharing the music video Trump demonstrated he is comfortable with Vought, despite denying any link to his Project 2025 program before the 2024 presidential election.
What To Know
In the video the Grim Reaper is portrayed walking through Washington, D.C., before his identity is revealed as Vought. Meanwhile, a band consisting of AI-generated versions of Trump, Vice President JD Vance and a number of skeletons plays a cover version of the 1976 Blue Öyster Cult hit “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”
New lyrics include: “Russ Vought is the reaper, he wields the pen, the funds and the brain. Here comes the reaper, Dems you babies, here comes the reaper.”
Newsweek contacted Blue Öyster Cult for comment via email on Friday outside of regular office hours.
Trump shared the clip on Thursday after saying he would meet with Vought to “determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut” amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.
The video is credited to the ‘Dilley 300 Meme Team,’ which produces pro-Trump content for social media.
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Vought was one of the architects of Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation organized agenda for a Republican president published ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Project 2025 came to 900 pages and included a range of conservative policy recommendations including rolling back federal bureaucracy and promoting the traditional family unit.
During the election campaign Project 2025 sparked controversy causing Trump to distance himself from it commenting: “I know nothing about Project 2025.”
The then-Republican presidential candidate also labeled parts of the plan as “ridiculous and abysmal.”
What People Are Saying
On X New Republic staff writer Greg Sargent wrote: “Russell Vought’s sadistic threat to kill projects in blue states will blow back on GOP. One getting defunded is reportedly a huge hydrogen project in northwest that would also serve Montana. Its GOP governor has hailed it as a big job creator.”
Speaking to PBS in September NPR White House reporter Tamara Keith said: “It’s very clear that Russell Vought is sort of the Grim Reaper of the administration when it comes to agencies that the president and his party want to get rid of.”
What Happens Next
Trump appears to be threatening Democrats with mass federal layoffs, potentially overseen by Vought, if they don’t back down and end the government shutdown on his terms. Thus far there are few signs either side of the shutdown is ready to give ground meaning it is likely to continue, with an intensifying economic and social impact.
