Inside the Trump Administration’s Blue Invasion

The coordinated launch sparked backlash from Bluesky’s user base, which created and shared lists making it easier for others to block all admin accounts at once. As of Tuesday, twelve Among the 20 most banned accounts It was created by the Trump administration last week.

The White House account has been drawn Only about 12,000 followers. More than 100,000 users’ accounts have been blocked. According to ban tracking website Bluesky ClearskyThis makes the White House the second most blocked Bluesky user. Vice President JD Vance, who signed up in June, still holds the title of the most blocked account, with more than 166,000 users blocking him.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from WIRED, but a White House official brushed off the criticism. “That’s good. No one can say we’re not trying to be transparent or trying to communicate with as many people as possible. That’s the name of the game.”

According to an administration official, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, the decision to launch all the accounts at once was deliberate. “It’s not like we chose a specific date for one reason,” the official tells WIRED. “Doing it all at once makes it more like a statement rather than doing it piecemeal.”

“This is an opportunity for us to reach a large segment of the American population that we don’t traditionally reach even on traditional social media platforms,” the administration official says.

There has been some confusion about the Bluesky verification process for these agencies as well, with representatives from the Trump administration reaching out about the process on Thursday, sources told WIRED. Management decided to release the accounts before hearing back from Bluesky. According to the White House official, the process was “very simple.”

“We welcome the White House and other government agencies to BlueSky,” a Bluesky spokesperson told WIRED. “We contacted them as soon as they joined and verified their accounts.”

Billy McLaughlin, former White House digital content director, defended the administration’s decision to join Bluesky. “The rollout was smooth, the introductory video was a perfect success, and the digital strategy remains one of the most complex strategies in modern politics,” says McLaughlin.