Donald Trump has been in Office less than a week and already the White House has shut down its public comment phone line. Instead, callers hoping to get in contact receive an automated message and are instructed to contact Trump's administration via Facebook Messenger.
How modern, right?
Sadly, it seems neither the White House administration nor President Donald Trump currently have an active Facebook Messenger account, so you can expect to be waiting a really long time to receive a response to your urgent questions or concerns.
And when we say a long time, you probably need to infer that it's never going to happen.
After all, Trump is too busy trying to build a wall between the US and Mexico and deteriorate women's reproductive rights – he hasn't got time to respond to Facebook notifications.
As a result, former Democratic nominee Senator Bernie Sanders and his digital team have created a way of contacting Trump's 'administration' via telephone.
Last year, Sander's digital presidential campaign, Revolution Messaging, created the website WhiteHouseInc.org with the help of a political action committee (PAC), to urge Trump to leave his other business, the Trump Organization, while in office at the White House.
Now, when you visit the website, those wanting to contact the Trump organisation are asked to fill out a form with their email and phone number, before a call connects them to one of Trump's properties across the world, at random.
According to Mashable, the website warns callers that they'll probably be connected to one of Trump's 5 star luxury hotels, resorts, clubs or golf courses, but suggests you 'tell management that until Trump steps away from his businesses for real, their property is no different from the Oval Office and you want to talk about the issues that matter most'.
And no, this doesn't mean you can prank call Trump's businesses with far-fetched pizza topping orders or ask for a 'Miss Ivanka Trump'. Get it?
Instead, the website is encouraging callers to phone up Trump's businesses about pertinent political topics relating to the US government and its people, all of which have been given Bernie's stamp of approval.
Subjects include:
- Pulling federal funding for reproductive health and women's organisations.
- Building a wall.
- Repealing the Affordable Care Act.
- Not intervening on student loan debt.
As Donald is yet to step down from his role as sole principal owner of the Trump Organization – despite concerns over conflicts between his business and the presidency – any employee of Trump can technically be seen to also form part of his presidential administration.
Give it a week and the receptionist at Trump Tower won't be too impressed with answering their 689th call about women's reproductive rights.
Bernie, you're a genius.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
