Video game memes, smack talk: Inside the White House’s war rhetoric

Happy Thursday. Let the madness begin! 🏀 We’re in the extremely brief period when we all have perfect brackets. Hold onto that luck for another hour or two. 😉

Drones over base housing Rubio, Hegseth

Drones over base housing Rubio, Hegseth

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Gas field attacks spark global crisis

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Prices soar after Iran’s Qatar attack

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Mullin nomination advances

This ain’t your grandfather’s war:

The Trump administration’s messaging on the war with Iran has not at all followed the traditional playbook. When you think of wartime in the U.S., you think of a somber-toned president with formal planned appearances carefully selling the American public on the necessary sacrifice of war for greater safety and security.

The White House does argue this conflict is to keep the U.S. safe, but instead of strictly adhering to that type of somber tone, the Trump administration is producing AI-generated content, including video game memes channeling “Call of Duty” or “Grand Theft Auto” as its official messaging for the conflict. They’ve even dubbed the war Operation Epic Fury.

“We’re over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude,” a senior White House official told Politico. “There’s an entertainment factor to what we do. But ultimately, it boils down to the fact that no one has ever attempted to communicate with the American public this way before.”

And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is out in public bashing U.S. allies to shame them into assisting in lowering gas prices — and going after critics and the media. Just this morning, he slammed “ungrateful” European allies and a “dishonest” media at a press conference.

It’s not *just* the Trump administration. It’s becoming a new strategy for international tensions: The Wall Street Journal’s James Hookway reports that governments are now opting to use AI-generated memes, specifically Lego-themed memes, as their go-to for propaganda.

Yes, the kids’ building toy. Iran trolled President Trump with a Lego-style propaganda video depicting a missile headed for Iran. Hookway writes that “it’s quickly gaining momentum at a time when viral images of war can shape public opinion.”

Read more: ‘How Lego Became a Go-To Meme of the Propaganda Wars’

Want to see more of the White House’s meme game?: The Hill’s Miranda Nazzaro breaks down the White House’s meme strategy, including........

© The Hill