The White House social media account is facing criticism after posting snippets from popular video games to advertise the war with Iran. On March 6, the X account associated with the White House shared a video of the military operations in Iran.
However, what the internet found absurd is that at the beginning of the video, there is a clip from the action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In the video, military strikes are seen blowing up Iranian vehicles.
After the mission is complete, the word “Wasted” appears on screen, the same term used to indicate when a player dies in the game.
OPERATION EPIC FURY
• Destroy Iran’s missile arsenal.
• Destroy their navy.
• Ensure they NEVER get a nuclear weapon.
Locked in. pic.twitter.com/ika3MMJmZT
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026
In one video titled “STRIKE,” the White House posted a video of Pete Weber bowling. Just as the ball knocks down the pins, the video cuts to animated pins holding a sign, “We won’t stop making nuclear weapons.” Then, a bowling ball, depicted as the U.S. military, knocks down the pins, and then the video features real clips of military strikes.
In another instance, a video captioned “Undefeated” compares such strikes to Nintendo Wii gaming. The X account has also set the military mission against scenes from Call of Duty.
The White House’s social media account has uploaded at least a dozen such videos. Video games are not the only form of digital entertainment media that the account has used to promote the war. Scenes from popular films such as Braveheart and Tropic Thunder, as well as children’s programs such as SpongeBob SquarePants, have also been used.
Will not stop until the objectives are met.
Unrelenting. Unapologetic. 🔁 pic.twitter.com/iM9fqjn1zc
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 5, 2026
Two former U.S. military officials spoke to NBC News and expressed serious frustration. One official said, “It’s absolutely disrespectful to everyone involved, including the Iranians themselves, who are at war, and disrespectful to the Americans who risked their lives.”
The posts drew significant criticism from the commentators, with many calling the posts tasteless and bizarre. One X user pointed out the irony in choosing a movie like Braveheart, which is about “resisting imperial occupation by a more powerful nation. Using it to celebrate American military power is exactly backwards—we are the empire.”
Another reminded of the infamous strike on an elementary school and commented, “You bombed an elementary school and murdered more than 100 little schoolgirls, and you spend your time posting 4chan video game memes?”
A third user chimed in, “Videos like this will one day be shown in history classes, detailing the embarrassing AI slop war propaganda shoved down our throats.”
President Donald Trump has been inconsistent in his statements about when the war will end, describing it as “a major combat operation” and also “a short-term excursion.” He initially claimed that the war was nearing its end. However, he changed his statement soon after and asserted that he would not withdraw until Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
