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In a bid to sway public opinion on President Trump’s military actions in Iran, the White House is leveraging popular memes from video games like “Grand Theft Auto” and TV shows such as “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
This approach is part of a larger social media strategy used by the Trump administration, which often incorporates artificial intelligence, elements of pop culture, and a touch of sarcasm to both champion the President’s policies and criticize his adversaries.
However, these memes, which mix scenes from well-known children’s shows and video games with real footage from the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Iran, have sparked criticism. Lawmakers and experts argue that they dangerously blur the lines between entertainment and the serious nature of war.
“It simplifies a complex and critical issue—armed conflict—into a mere cartoon,” remarked Peter Loge, a political scientist at George Washington University. “By portraying war as a game or an animated show, it diminishes the harsh realities of conflict in the public’s perception.”
The videos, which range in length from five to fifty seconds, began circulating shortly after the conflict with Iran commenced, persisting as the conflict nears its second week. Since the onset of military operations, seven U.S. service members have lost their lives due to Iranian attacks, and around 140 others have been injured, according to the Pentagon’s report on Tuesday.
In one video posted Thursday, the White House spliced together clips from the animated “Wii Sports” game theme with videos of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. At one point, an animated baseball player is shown at bat ahead of actual footage of a strike in Iran as a Wii narrator says “out of the park.”
It followed a post on Wednesday showing a former professional bowling player throwing a “strike” at bowling pins labeled “Iranian regime officials,” amid cheering crowds. In another video last week, SpongeBob is shown saying, “Want me to do it again?” followed by real videos of the military strikes with the caption, “Will not stop until the objectives are met.”
And in another post last week, the lyrics “Kaboom, kablow” from the rap song “Bazooka” play in the background, while another featured the “Grand Theft Auto” video game, with White House communications director Steven Cheung adding the game’s iconic cheat code.
The social media posts came as the Trump administration struggled to have consistent messaging on the justification of the Iran war and how long the conflict could last. U.S. military forces have also utilized social media to provide daily updates on the ongoing operations.
Loge, the director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at George Washington, compared the approach to professional wrestling, where “the point is the spectacle.”
“The sport matters, pro wrestling is hard, people really could get hurt,” he said. “But the point isn’t the sport, the point is the spectacle. … What we’re seeing out of the White House is the spectacle of war rather than the reality of war.”
The posts immediately drew criticism from Democrats, including Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), a U.S. Air Force veteran, who posted a picture of the dignified transfer of the killed U.S. soldiers, writing, “Dear White House: Instead of juvenile and animated videos, here is a real photograph from a dignified transfer of U.S. soldiers who gave the last full measure of devotion.”
“What is your plan to protect our troops and prevent Iran from continuing to hit U.S. bases and facilities?” he added.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) wrote in a post on the social platform X that “war is not a joke. It is not a game.”
“The White House is putting out stuff like this while flag draped coffins come home to broken families,” Warnock continued. “Is it too much to ask for the commander-in-chief to just take his most solemn and sacred responsibility seriously? Enough.”
The Trump administration’s memes are the latest example in more than a century of U.S. presidents using new technology to aid the war effort. Each innovation or new technology has presented new methods for messaging — from newspapers to television to cellphones to video game consoles.
But the capabilities of social media, combined with the White House’s media strategy, is presenting a new “memeification” of foreign policy, explained Nicholas Cull, a historian of the role of mass communication in foreign policy at the University of Southern California.
War, Cull said, “from the point of view of the White House, has been entered into with lots and lots of explanation, lots of emphasis on having considered alternatives.”
“And at the highest levels of American politics, it has not been celebrated. … It’s not what you expect the president to do and share,” he said, adding it is “ill-fitting” with American history.
The tendency to use trends and “trolling” humor over policy issues is a frequent approach for the Trump White House, which has faced criticism in the past from well-known figures and celebrities when their creative works, songs or identity have been used in political messaging.
Some posts related to Iran attracted similar attention, including from actor Ben Stiller, who slammed the White House for using a clip from the film “Tropic Thunder.” The clip was part of a montage of several action film videos and actual strike videos with the caption, “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY.”
“We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine,” Stiller wrote in a post on X. “War is not a movie.”