A Hollywood-style propaganda video released by the White House, promising 'justice the American way' for Iran, features movie stars from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, and promotes characters including a corrupt lawyer, a drug dealer, and a freedom fighter resisting an invading foreign army. The 42-second video posted on the official X account of the White House on Thursday was met with near-universal mockery online, with comments accusing the Trump administration of immaturity and likening its social media strategy to one run by teenagers.
The sequence opens with a scene from Iron Man 2, featuring Robert Downey Jr.'s character Tony Stark as the first of several superheroes. Downey Jr. has been a vocal critic of Trump and actively campaigned for his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election. The next actors, Russell Crowe in Gladiator and Mel Gibson in Braveheart, are from New Zealand and Australia respectively, with both films centering on small, seemingly helpless entities defying powerful imperial forces.
Following a clip of Tom Cruise as Maverick in Top Gun, the video shows Jimmy McGill, an attorney with questionable ethics from the TV series Breaking Bad and its prequel Better Call Saul, played by Bob Odenkirk. Next, Keanu Reeves, a Canadian citizen, appears from the 2014 movie John Wick, and Bryan Cranston, who plays Walter White in Breaking Bad, delivers a line from the series. Cranston, like Downey Jr., has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump, previously calling him a 'Shakespearean serio-tragic-comedic character' and denouncing his 'demagoguery'.
The video concludes with a voice declaring 'flawless victory' from the Mortal Kombat series, underscoring the Trump administration's increasing reliance on provocative visuals to convey its messaging, mirroring the president's own confrontational social media strategy of mockery, insults, and trolling. The administration has unashamedly harnessed AI technology to produce what critics call 'slopaganda,' including a video last October portraying Trump dumping feces on U.S. citizens attending protests.
It remains unclear whether the White House secured permission for the use of clips in this latest video, as countless high-profile artists and musicians, such as Abba, Beyoncé, and the Rolling Stones, have previously clashed with the administration over unauthorized use of their material. This highlights the ongoing controversies and perceived lack of professionalism in the communication tactics employed by the current U.S. regime, raising questions about the effectiveness and appropriateness of such approaches in international diplomacy.
Source: www.theguardian.com