Critics argue that President Donald Trump and his White House team should feel some embarrassment, though they likely won’t.
A week after unveiling a quirky online hub featuring MAGA-themed games built around retro arcade-style visuals, Trump’s team pulled at least one title from the site amid copyright concerns.
The “Build the Wall” game bore similarities to Tetris, employing blocks to construct Trump’s barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, and it urged players to “hold the line” against a “zombie border siege.”
Tetris swiftly responded on Sept. 4 via a post on X, stating it “was not involved in the creation” of the border wall game, and stressing that it treats copyright infringement with the seriousness it deserves.
The White House shared the caption above a message from the storied vintage game maker.
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“At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” the company said in a statement. “To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we’re grateful to have you in our community.”
NBC News reported the game remained online on Monday, Sept. 7, but was removed the following day.
Then, on Sept. 8, the White House rolled out another game, this time echoing Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda.
In a post on X, the White House described its version as “The Legend of Trump: Make America Great Again.”
Social media exploded with critics tearing into Trump and his administration, with many urging Nintendo to sue them.
“Stop using our tax dollars to make this crap,” wrote one X user. “@Nintendo please sue these idiots,” added another.
One of the site’s most controversial games, “Snake,” depicts Border Czar Tom Homan at the head of an ever-growing line of migrants in orange jumpsuits, arranged in a snake-like grid. The video appears to portray Trump leveraging Immigration and Customs Enforcement to terrorize, detain and deport immigrant families.
Another title, “Rio Run,” traps migrants at the border and ejects them. In a further game, the White House has renamed the retro “Flappy Bird” to “Flappy Bill,” featuring a bald eagle soaring through the capital’s landmarks.
NBC noted that Trump and his administration have repeatedly drawn on popular video games and characters from cartoons and books for political messaging. The White House has also used copyrighted songs without permission to promote its policies, often pulling the music only after artists pushed back.
Just last December, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the popular children’s book character Franklin the Turtle to appear to mock ongoing criticisms of what he calls the “drug boats” in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Hegseth’s image showed Franklin clad in military gear and firing at small boats from a helicopter. It included captions reading “Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists” and “A Classic Franklin Story.”
The book’s publisher, Kids Can Press, “strongly condemned” Hegseth’s unauthorized use of the character, posting on X to warn against any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image.
The publisher stressed that Franklin stands for kindness, empathy and inclusivity.
Trump also drew the ire of pop star Sabrina Carpenter by using one of her songs in a video depicting a harsh immigration crackdown by Customs and Immigration Enforcement.
The artist answered with a caution as well: “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to advance your inhumane agenda,” she wrote on X.
