White power at the White House – Trump intern flashes 'alt-right' symbol used by notorious extremists during group photo with the president

 A recent White House intern appeared to use a white power hand sign in a photo with President Trump, a sign that has been adopted by far-right groups in recent months. 

Jack Breuer, a recent college graduate who interned at the White House this fall, showed the symbol in a photo with the rest of the White House interns and the president himself. Some have suggested, however, that it was merely the "OK" hand symbol.

While most of the interns who posed for the photo gave Trump's signature thumbs-up sign with their hands, Breuer is seen toward the back of the photo making the letter shapes of 'w' and 'p' with his right hand. 

White nationalists and far-right activists were seen using the symbol at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia this summer, where one woman was killed in the protests against the march. Self-described white supremacist Richard Spencer, who organized the march, has frequently shown the sign at public events. 

The provocative gesture was first noticed after the White House mailed the photos to the interns' families. 

One fellow intern said that Breuer, who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, is "a good kid and is probably doing it as a joke." 

"It is a distinct symbol known in alt-right circles and what makes it worse is that he is doing it in the East Room just below the portrait of George Washington," another intern told. 

Trump has come under fire for not more harshly condemning so-called "alt-right" supporters, who praised the president for his response to the violent Charlottesville rally in saying there were "very fine people on both sides."