The White House app, launched in March 2026, has been automatically pushed onto the work phones of millions of federal government employees — and workers say they cannot remove it. Employees at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the State Department, and the Department of Labor, speaking anonymously to WIRED out of fear of retaliation, described alarm when the app appeared on their devices without their consent.
“I deleted it as a test and it came immediately back,” said one USDA employee. A State Department worker reported the same experience. The White House announced the automatic rollout in May 2026.
The app, which is also available to the public on the Apple and Google app stores, offers White House press releases, social media posts from Trump’s Truth Social and official accounts, and a curated news feed drawing from outlets including Fox, Breitbart, and the New York Post. It also features a button to “text President Trump,” which autofills the message “Greatest President Ever.” One employee described it as “shooting pure unadulterated propaganda into our veins.”
The app was developed by 45Press, an Ohio-based company that describes itself as specializing in WordPress development and design. According to the System for Award Management, 45Press received $1.5 million in government contracts and was eligible for more than $8 million. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Cybersecurity concerns have followed the app since its April launch. Experts noted it initially shared users’ location and IP addresses with third parties. A separate investigation by NOTUS found the app used widgets from a Russia-based company called Elfsight, which exposed personal information belonging to White House officials. The White House said Elfsight had been informed of the vulnerability.
The app’s privacy policy page lists only an email address, with no details on how user data is collected or handled. White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said the app “does not require anyone to create an account or enter any data,” adding that “government devices typically include pre-installed apps that provide value to government employees’ day-to-day work.”
The presence of the app on State Department devices — which handle sensitive diplomatic work — may raise particular security concerns, given the unresolved questions around third-party data sharing.
Source: WIRED