President Donald Trump continues his tradition of posting some new videos on Truth Social later Thursday, pushing out the strangest content ever distributed by the US president. One of the videos is generated by AI, with OMB director Russ Vaught appearing as Grim Reaper, with President Trump playing the Cowbell.
The video, posted at about 10:40pm on ET, is set in a parody version of the 1976 Blue Oyster Cult hit “Reaper,” and opens with a stormy rendering of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, which includes illustrations covered in long black robes.
One of the numbers is revealed to be President Trump, and in some way hits a cowbell that is not in sync with the music, while the other is Russ Vought, director of the Office of Business and Budget. Vought is a key architect for Project 2025 and is a conservative plan that will gush the federal government, and Trump and his allies have tried to pretend that it wasn't actually Trump's plan during the 2024 presidential election.
“It's now their time, and here the power is gone,” the song opens with a shot of the Capitol. “Las Vault is a Grim Reaper. He wields his pen, his funds, his brain.”
The song continues, describing the Democrats as “babys” and fighting as a man who will cause catastrophic cuts to the federal workforce. Two sombreros also appear. This becomes a racist rights meme.
The idea is that Democrats have shut down the government. Because they want to provide medical bills to undocumented immigrants. The government's closure is the third day and there is no end as Republicans control both the House and Senate.
The video posted by Trump appears to have been produced by the Dilly Meme Team, a group of online video creators founded by Brenden Dilly. The group is dabbling with Pro Trump's content in Canon's promotion, a conspiracy theory that Trump and Republicans secretly work on Cabal, a Democrat-eating baby-eating predator. However, this new video does not exactly cast Trump and his allies as those who come to save the day.
To be honest, Vought because the Grim Reaper is probably a fair expression of his goal. Shortly before the 2024 presidential election, Vought said he wanted to cause trauma to federal workers. That's exactly what the government did long before the government shut down.
According to a video obtained by ProPublica, Vought said in 2024 that “businesses hope that bureaucrats will be affected by trauma.” “When they wake up in the morning, we want them not to go to work because they are increasingly seen as villains.”
An obvious video depicting vaught, as the horrifying Grim Reaper casts him as a villain in most people's eyes. But it really lies next to the point. Far-right politicians seem increasingly confused about who is considered a good man.
“We want to close their funds so that the EPA can't implement all the rules for the energy industry because they don't have the bandwidth to do so financially. We want to put them in the trauma,” Vought continued.
But all the threats Vaute has done aren't as intimidating now. Trump has unilaterally cut federal workforce and program funding both domestically and internationally with devastating consequences. After Trump had a chainsaw in the federal government for the past nine months (often with the help of Elon Musk and Doge), there is a real question as to how much they can cut.
There is also the question of whether Trump knows what is posted on his social media accounts, and whether he even knows what kind of non-non-occurring AI-generated content is next. The president posted an AI video last weekend promoting what is called “Med Beds.” This is the Canon Adjacent Conspiracy Theory that magical beds can cure all diseases, but are suppressed by the pharmaceutical industry.
Trump also posted an AI video Thursday night, throwing a “Trump 2028” hat on the head of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a top-ranked Democrat, inside the house.
The video has some subtle clues that it might be AI, including not only the fact that Trump is not tuned enough to throw such a hat, but also the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell what the fake is in the current environment. Openai launched this week a SORA app that creates AI video content that looks very realistic. And now, it's just an invitation, but tools for making highly persuasive fakes are becoming more common.
Trump and his allies are not serious people, even if they control the levers of all their forces. And the reporter asked House Speaker Mike Johnson about how his party is tricking Democrats with these ridiculous videos.
Reporter of Fox News' Mike Johnson: “How can you say, 'They don't give this joy', and the next minute will say, 'Oh, are they just having fun and trolling?” pic.twitter.com/o9fyurrntb
– Aaron Rupal (@atrupar) October 3, 2025
“What they're trying to enjoy and lighten is pointing out the absurdity of the Democratic position, and they use all the tools of memes and social media to do that,” Johnson said.
“Some people find it interesting, but at the end of the day, decisions are difficult and I'm telling you, they have no joy in it.”
