Tokyo Tells Trump to Stop Meme-ing Mario

In brief

Japan’s government has repeatedly urged the U.S. to stop using anime and game characters in official posts, with the latest appeals lodged through the U.S. embassy in June.
The Pokémon Company confirmed it never granted permission for a Department of Homeland Security clip that mashed Ash Ketchum with ICE footage.
A Japanese fan’s “Protect Japanese Manga” petition and an AI Trump-as-Naruto video pushed the issue up the diplomatic ladder.

Japanese officials have repeatedly asked the U.S. government to stop its meme posting involving Mario, Pokémon, and Naruto. Since March, the foreign ministry has called out Washington over the unauthorized use of anime and game IP in the Donald Trump administration’s social media, according to local reports.

Per reports, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a parliamentary session in April that “it’s inappropriate even for public institutions to reproduce copyrighted materials without the rightsholders’ consent,” referencing a pro-war video that used Nintendo’s Wii Sports.

In June, Cabinet Minister Kimi Onoda said the same principle had been conveyed to the U.S. through diplomatic channels “multiple times.” According to Mainichi, Tokyo asked the administration to weigh the potential damage to these IPs when used without permission in policy and pro-war content.

The posts that started it

The administration’s accounts have leaned on Japanese franchises for over a year.

In September 2025, Homeland Security posted a mash-up of Pokémon’s Ash Ketchum and ICE raid footage set to the theme song. The Pokémon Company later said permission was never sought. In March, the White House X account posted Wii Sports footage cut with Iran strike footage, then a second pro-war clip weaving in Halo, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball, Top Gun, Iron Man, and Braveheart. Master Chief voice actor Steve Downes and Yu-Gi-Oh!’s official account pushed back.

The backlash isn’t only official. Fan Nana Suzuki launched a “Protect Japanese Manga” petition on Change.org urging for measures to stop this. Anger flared again in June after President Trump shared an AI-generated video of himself as Naruto on Truth Social. Suzuki reopened the petition “as an urgent effort to convey our protest,” and the clip prompted fresh questioning of Onoda on June 12.

米国ホワイトハウスの公式Xアカウントにおいて、
アニメ「遊☆戯☆王」シリーズの映像が、権利者の許諾なく使用されている投稿が確認されました。
本件については、原作およびアニメ関係者は一切関与しておらず、当該知的財産の使用を許諾した事実もございません。
It has come to our attention that…
— アニメ「遊☆戯☆王」公式 (@yugioh_anime) March 11, 2026

Japan polices intellectual property more tightly than most. Its creative industries protect character IP very carefully, and the government treats unauthorized use by a foreign state as brand risk, not flattery. When a decades-old franchise sits next to a polarizing policy, the “damage to a work’s image” Tokyo warns about is the dilution rights holders track.

The complaint is small in diplomatic terms—notes to an embassy, not a lawsuit. But it lands at the center of how the White House talks.