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By Marni Rose McFall
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The White House has shared a video to TikTok featuring a compilation of what it described as American culture that has quickly been mocked online.
The video opens with a black and white snippet of President Donald Trump walking, with the text overlay "And they say America has no culture…," in an apparent response to longstanding mockery around America’s so-called lack of culture.
The TikTok comes amid widespread celebrations for America's semi quincentennial, and ahead of the 4th of July weekend.
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The video features quick fire images or food and American retail institutions, but has been ridiculed, with social media users flocking to the comments, calling it embarrassing.
In response to a request for comment from Newsweek, White House Spokesman Davis Ingle said, "President Trump is ensuring that America gets the spectacular 250th birthday it deserves—and Freedom 250 will execute on the president’s historic vision.
"Between the Great American State Fair, the Salute to America Celebration, the Patriot Games, Rededicate 250, and other exciting events, 2026 will feature a renewal of patriotism and national pride under this president’s leadership."
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What Does the TikTok Show?
Newsweek has broken down what the White House’s ‘American Culture’ TikTok shows.
- Buc-ee's
- A restaurant with "Texas" in a neon sign, followed by a map of the state and an American flag
- The Statue of Liberty
- A Walmart
- An air-conditioning unit
- Texas barbecue
- Tortilla chips and salsa
- Race cars
- Pancakes
- A football stadium
- A man holding a Super Big Gulp from 7-Eleven
- The White House
- The Jefferson Memorial
- Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World
- Grand Prismatic Spring
- A man shotgunning a beer
- Squaretop Mountain, Wyoming
- A cheeseburger
- Miss Rodeo USA
- A hot dog
- Mount Rushmore
- The Reflecting Pool
- Horseshoe Bend, Arizona
- Times Square
- The UFC 250 event at the White House
- The image of Trump at the rally in Pennsylvania where he was shot
- A car driving in the dirt
- Cool Springs Station, Arizona, on Route 66
- The Georgia Bulldogs
- Country Jam USA
- Ranch dressing
- A bucket of Chick-fil-A ice
Warning: this clip contains profanities
‘American Culture,’ TikTok Quickly Mocked Online
The video has quickly gone viral—as of reporting on Tuesday morning, it has been viewed 1.1 million times and liked over 100,000 times.
But much of the response has been negative. One comment, liked over 26,000 times, reads "fast food & a gas station," followed by two crying emojis.
"How is Walmart culture," one comment liked over 14,000 times reads, while another liked over 16,000 times reads, "Did they dead serious put chips and salsa."
Another comment, liked over 3,000 times, reads "As a european I'm confused, is this video supposed to be serious or is it a joke?” while a similar comment from another social media user, liked over 3,000 times reads "this is so embarrassing."
"Did yall deadass put air conditioning," another comment, liked over 4,700 times, read, while another social media user commented, "This is a joke right," in a comment liked over 4,900 times.
The Broader Culture Discourse
The White House's video arrives amid a wider online conversation about American culture that has become increasingly prominent on social media in recent years. A recurring theme in that discourse is the claim that "America has no culture," or that what is presented as American culture is heavily centered on consumerism, corporations and chain businesses, particularly when compared to European culture.
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One of the most prominent examples is the "American Mind Cannot Comprehend" meme, a trend largely driven by European social media users. The meme is used to highlight perceived differences between American and European lifestyles, often by contrasting U.S. suburban development and consumer culture with images of walkable cities, historic town centers, and café culture.
Last summer, a photograph of people drinking and socializing outdoors in Marbella, Spain, captioned "The American mind cannot comprehend this," was viewed more than 63 million times on X and sparked debate about quality of life, work-life balance and cultural identity.
The same conversation has also surfaced in discussions surrounding Greenland. In January, a viral TikTok from a Greenlandic creator jokingly described an imitation of the "Fentanyl Fold" as "Bringing American culture to Greenland."
The video accumulated millions of views and prompted thousands of comments mocking the U.S., with some users suggesting America's culture is defined by political polarization, consumerism and social problems rather than art, history or tradition.
Against that backdrop, the White House's TikTok can be seen as an attempt to push back against criticism that America lacks a distinctive culture by highlighting recognizable American landmarks, food, sports and institutions.
However, many critics argued that the video's inclusion of Walmart, Buc-ee's, air-conditioning units, Chick-fil-A ice and 7-Eleven drinks inadvertently reinforced the very stereotypes that online commentators have been mocking.
The reaction illustrates how debates about American culture have become a recurring feature of online discourse, particularly as social media users from the U.S. and abroad increasingly compare lifestyles, national identities and what they believe best represents modern America.
Update 07/01/26 03:13 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from The White House.
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