As the fifth anniversary of the January 6 Capitol insurrection approached, The White House seemed to pretend the event had never occurred.
In a perplexing choice, officials at the White House released a new website that appeared to sideline the significance of the insurrection, offering an alternate narrative of events leading up to it.
Many will remember January 6, 2021, when a crowd of Trump supporters violently breached the US Capitol building, aiming to thwart Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election. The attack resulted in five deaths, over 100 injured police officers, and the arrest of 1600 Trump supporters.
Despite the gravity of the situation and the clear historical documentation of what unfolded, Donald Trump described the rioters as ‘peaceful protestors’ who were innocent. The new website claims that law enforcement and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were responsible for inciting the violence on that day.
The rioters are portrayed as ‘victims’ of the events, while Trump is cast as a compassionate leader who ‘pardoned’ them for their supposed ‘patriotism’.
Trump also accused the US Capitol police of ‘deliberately escalating tensions’ with his supposed ‘peaceful’ supporters, who he claimed engaged in an ‘orderly and spirited’ rally with banners, signs, and chants in support of him.
The White House further downplayed the five fatalities resulting directly from the riots, asserting that two Trump supporters, who died of natural causes that day (a stroke and a heart attack), were ‘killed’.
This website represents the first instance of the White House providing a platform for President Trump to express his often alternate view of events.
A central theme on the website is Trump’s persistent, albeit false, assertion that the 2020 election was fraudulent. In fact, his ongoing allegations of electoral fraud motivated his supporters to storm the Capitol, aiming to undermine the democratic process that confirmed Joe Biden as President.
At first glance, the new website has caused concern among Americans, but White House communications director Steven Cheung hinted in a Twitter post that the webpage might not be what it seems, suggesting it could be a ‘trap’ to provoke a response from the media.
If this is true, it would raise significant concerns among US citizens about a major power using its official digital presence to provoke the media and disseminate false information in this age of misinformation.
LOL! Can't believe MSDNC actually fell for our trap in covering the new January 6 page on the White House website.
☮️&🇺🇸 https://t.co/auPPiUFoPl pic.twitter.com/qrkfwJcrjn
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) January 6, 2026
This also prompts questions regarding the intentions behind releasing such a site on the anniversary of a grim chapter in recent US history.
The content of the website also wasn’t limited to criticism of Democrats and liberal media; former Vice President Mike Pence was also targeted.
In an unusual critique, Trump suggested that Pence had the chance to send disputed electoral votes back to state legislatures for reconsideration during the joint session of Congress that day but chose not to, labeling Pence’s decision as an ‘act of cowardice and sabotage’.
Pence has consistently maintained that refusing to certify the election at that stage would have been unconstitutional, a stance supported by numerous legal experts.
The website’s release has met with varied reactions, with many condemning the dissemination of false narratives by a political entity.
Nancy Pelosi criticized the new site in a statement, stating: “January 6th was not an aberration and it was not spontaneous. It was the culmination of a sustained assault on truth, on the rule of law, and one of the most sacred principles of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power.”
She also described January 6 as an ‘attempted coup’ incited by Trump to overturn the 2020 election.