The White House has introduced five arcade-style games on its website, each purportedly promoting a different policy of US President Donald Trump's agenda, igniting criticism that the administration is prioritizing entertainment over addressing rising living costs and the ongoing war on Iran.

Announced on Thursday, the games include "Build the Wall," where players run to capture little green figures before they reach a border wall; "Rio Run," a Snake-style game in which players gather border crossers along a fence; "Supply Line," where players reject food items that fail to meet "Make America Healthy Again" standards; "Flappy Bill," a Flappy Bird-style game in which a bald eagle carries legislation over the National Mall; and "Trump Savings Tycoon," where players catch flying cash and gold bars to "fill your kids' Trump Accounts," referencing the administration's child savings program.

Critics have slammed the move. "Heating oil is near an all-time high but hey you can play Border Czar Tom Homan in a video game," Senator Matt Lesser wrote on X. Rights groups also voiced outrage.

"Makes me sick. They've been playing games with people's lives for years, now they've made a video game of what they're doing," Amerika Garcia Grewal, co-director of the Frontera Federation in Eagle Pass, Texas, told AFP. She added that game designers "have lost touch with what it means to be human and care for others."

Adriana Jasso, program coordinator for AMIGOS San Diego Community, who works at the border, said the games show a fundamental "lack of seriousness" from the administration. "The cruelty, the extremity of the administration … is no longer surprising," she said.

In recent months, Trump has faced mounting criticism over the economic toll of the war on Iran and his broader domestic agenda. The conflict has kept the Strait of Hormuz closed for nearly six months, disrupting global supplies of oil, natural gas, and fertilizer, and pushing US inflation above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, according to Texas Public Radio.

Trump has also faced criticism over tariff policies that the Supreme Court partly struck down earlier this year, along with cuts to food assistance programs and the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits, all of which economists say have compounded the squeeze on household budgets.

The White House, meanwhile, appeared unfazed, posting "CAN'T STOP WINNING" on X alongside a link to the games.

Source: www.aljazeera.com