The makers of Pokémon expressed frustration with the White House on Friday after the Trump administration used Pokémon-style imagery in a recent X post touting the MAGA movement.
“We are aware of recent social content that includes imagery associated with our brand,” a spokesperson for Pokémon Company International said in a statement to media outlets. “We were not involved in its creation or distribution, and no permission was granted for the use of our intellectual property. Our mission is to bring the world together, and that mission is not affiliated with any political viewpoint or agenda.”
The company previously took issue with the Trump administration borrowing its “gotta catch ‘em all!” slogan in a September post about immigration enforcement.
This week’s post, shared Thursday on the White House X account, featured President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan over a backdrop featuring an animated town, all in the style of the company’s recently released Pokémon Pokopia video game.
“The legacy media wants us to apologize for highlighting the United States Military’s incredible success, but the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Independent when asked about the post, which does not reference Iran.
The White House also pointed to the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign’s use of the enthusiasm around a different Pokémon video game to help recruit voters.
The administration has come under fire for other pop-culture references in recent social media posts, which have interspersed footage from action movies and video games with clips from the Iran war.
Actor and director Ben Stiller criticized the administration for featuring a clip of his war satire comedyTropic Thunder in one such clip.
“Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie,” Stiller wrote on X.
The White House has defended the posts.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung mockingly praised a recent CNN segment detailing a Grand Theft Auto-themed post about the war.
“Credit where credit is due,” he wrote on X on Friday. “Thank you to @CNN for covering all of our banger videos.”
As The Independent has reported, the Trump administration has leaned into using memes and other provocative imagery on its social media pages to recruit new hires and tout its deportation campaign.
The images, which have mixed Hollywood-style footage of immigration raids with paeans to America’s pioneer history and Bible verses, amount to fascist “propaganda,” experts said.
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