Despite the current US government’s “America first” philosophy, the White House makes no secret of its love for Japanese art and animation. Even after it increased the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 with inflation-inducing tariffs that were later refunded (to Nintendo, not to consumers), it continued to use AI-generated videos and memes of Super Mario and Pokémon in official government communications.
To celebrate NASA’s moon flyby in April, the White House posted a video not of a Disney or Warner Bros character but Mario, a Japanese Italian plumber, representing the US in space. Even more questionable posts included one from the Department of Homeland Security that combined footage of ICE raids with Pokémon animation and music.
The bizarre communications caused confusion among fans, with some people presuming that Nintendo had approved them. Not so. Japan has reportedly asked Donald Trump’s administration to please stop.
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You literally just brought a 20 year old home in a box and you post fucking cartoon videos like this war is a joke! What the fuck is wrong with this administration? How much more incompetent, disrespectful, insensitive are you going to be! This administration is a disgrace😡! pic.twitter.com/itDgRwBdLDMarch 12, 2026
You literally just brought a 20 year old home in a box and you post fucking cartoon videos like this war is a joke! What the fuck is wrong with this administration? How much more incompetent, disrespectful, insensitive are you going to be! This administration is a disgrace😡! pic.twitter.com/itDgRwBdLDMarch 12, 2026
Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Toshimitsu Motegi, criticised the White House comms in a parliamentary session back in April. He highlighted a post that used Nintendo Wii Sports footage to promote US airstrikes on Iran.
“Generally speaking, it’s inappropriate even for public institutions to reproduce copyrighted materials without the rightsholders’ consent,” he pointed out, as reported by Kyodo News agency and picked up by IGN.
According to the Mainichi Shimbun, formal messages have since been relayed, with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs making multiple requests for the US government stop posting content featuring characters from franchises like Mario, Pokémon and Naruto. The newspaper reports that two requests were made in June through the US Embassy in Japan.
Japan reportedly asked the US administration to consider the damage it could cause to these IPs when used without permission in US politics and pro-war social media content.
Like with Studio Ghibli’s entreaty to OpenAI last year, it sounds like Japan expressed its stance with the utmost formality and decorum, which is more than can be said for the White House’s communications. Trump’s team might believe Japanese animation and video games make America great again, but they’re also causing the country to be seen as a rogue state when it comes to intellectual property rights.
