Over the past few years, the White House has been the focus of criticism from some in the video game community for its use of video game IP as part of its marketing. It started back in 2025 with Pokémon and Halo. This year, there have been more posts with the use of Smash Bros. and Call of Duty. Most recently, the White House used the combination of NASA, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Nintendo Wii Sports in two other posts. The use of Nintendo Wii Sports in an alleged pro-war post with Nintendo Wii Sports did not sit particularly well with Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs who called out the White House for using copyrighted material without consent.

Speaking in a Japanese parliamentary session, Motegi called out the White House. “Generally speaking, it’s inappropriate even for public institutions to reproduce copyrighted materials without the rightsholders’ consent.”

Currently, Motegi is working to de-escalate the U.S.-Iran conflict and restore stability in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump administration spokesperson Abigail Jackson previously commented how they want to double down on their social media strategy.

“Through engaging posts and banger memes, we are successfully communicating the president’s extremely popular agenda,” Jackson said. “There’s a reason so many people try to copy our style — our message resonates.”

The Pokémon Company spoke out against both incidents the White House used Pokémon. “Our mission is to bring the world together, and that mission is not affiliated with any political viewpoint or agenda,” said The Pokémon Company at the time.

Nintendo hasn’t issued an official statement, but it is currently in the process of suing the U.S. government over Trump’s tariffs which has not only impacted Nintendo but PlayStation and Xbox as well. All three companies have raised their prices on games, consoles and accessories since the Tariffs have taken effect.