White House Propaganda Videos Splice Horrific Iran War Footage With Video Games

For several days in a row, the White House has posted videos on X of the U.S.’s strikes on Iran spliced with footage taken from video games and action movies, in a dystopic form of propaganda that treats the war like a game or like social media content to be mined.

On Friday, the White House account shared a video that began with a popular meme from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, showing a man saying “Ah shit, here we go again.” Immediately after, it shows a video of, presumably, a U.S. strike on a truck in Iran, and the word “wasted” flashes on the screen, as it does in the video game when the character dies.

The same sequence repeats with footage of three other U.S. strikes, including the U.S.’s torpedoing of Iran’s IRIS Dena, which the video also labels as “wasted.” A hip hop song from the game plays in the background.

A U.S. submarine sank Dena in a strike off the coast of Sri Lanka this week. The ship was sailing back from a naval exercise hosted by India when U.S. forces struck it. The U.S. military then left the crew of roughly 180 people to die; Sri Lankan officials recovered 87 bodies and 32 survivors.

The incident has garnered attention as a flashpoint of the U.S.’s actions during the war, which experts have condemned as a potential war crime and potentially unprecedented manner of conduct. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has pushed for “no stupid rules of engagement” in the war, described the sinking of the Dena as a “quiet death” as the White House bragged about it on social media.​

Iranian media reports that the U.S. and Israel’s campaign has killed over 1,300 people so far. Iranian human rights group HRANA reports that 1,168 civilians have been killed, including 194 children. The videos were published as the U.S. investigates the massacre of 175 people at an elementary school in Minab, Iran, on Saturday, mostly children, that evidence shows was carried out by U.S. forces.

The White House used footage of the strike again in a post on Thursday that spliced footage from movies and TV shows with the strikes. “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY,” the White House account wrote, with an American flag emoji and a flame emoji.

That video starts with a clip of Iron Man saying “wake up, daddy’s home,” with clips from Gladiator, Top Gun: Maverick, Better Call Saul, Halo 2, John Wick, Superman, Breaking Bad, Transformers, Deadpool, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Interspersed are clips of the U.S. bombing targets.

As the White House logo fades in at the end, a voiceover says “flawless victory,” with audio from video game Mortal Kombat.

The White House posted another similar video on Wednesday. That one begins with a clip showing a person launching a missile in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, then shows footage of a plane taking off from a warship, missile launches, and footage, again, from strikes. The song “Bonfire” by Childish Gambino plays overtop.

It’s unclear if the White House sought rights to use any of these media properties for its propaganda campaign. However, the Trump administration has a history of using media without permission. This week, Pokémon Company International condemned the White House’s use of its new game, Pokémon Pokopia, for an image on social media that said “make america great again” in the art style of the game.

Commentators have condemned the White House for making light of war with its videos.

“Hundreds of people are dead. Little girls are dead. Six Americans are dead. Others are risking their lives. Millions across the Middle East are terrified. It’s not a video game. It’s not a meme. It’s not another chance to troll the libs. It’s fucking war,” said Pod Save America host Jon Favreau.