Presidential alert: Thousands of Americans mock Donald Trump after receiving practice emergency text alerts

The presidential alert was sent to tens of millions of US mobile phones
EPA
Katy Clifton3 October 2018

Scores of Americans have mocked Donald Trump after around 225 million people were sent an emergency "presidential alert" message as part of a test.

The practice text alert, which triggered a loud notification tone and vibration on phones, came from a system designed to warn the public in the event of a national emergency, such as a missile attack.

The message sent by the Federal Emergency Management agency (Fema) said: "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

It is the first test of the national wireless emergency system by Fema and was broadcast on mobile phone towers for 30 minutes.

After the messages were sent out at 2.18pm local time, thousands of people immediately took to social media to mock the texts and suggest alternative presidential messages.

Comedian Ricky Gervais wrote: "Can't wait for the first ever presidential alert saying that SNL sucks."

"Congrats to Tiffany Trump, who just received her first ever text from her dad," Twitter user Johnny LaDeadnik added.

"If I wanted my phone to scream messages from the president I would look at Twitter," Casey Newton wrote.

American model and author Chrissy Teigen also responded to the alert, writing: "NOOOOOOO THE ALERT. IT HAPPENED."

The test has drawn a lot of attention on social media in part because of Mr Trump's propensity for sending tweets to his 55 million followers.

It comes after government officials said on Tuesday that the president would not personally trigger the alert from any device.

They emphasised that no president could "wake up one morning and attempt to send a personal message".

Fema has not yet said whether the test went well, but some people reported not getting the alerts of getting them on a delayed basis.

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