After one week of military action in Iran, directed by President Donald Trump and undertaken alongside Israel, the White House has released a series of hype videos designed to stir up pride and confidence in the United States military.
While U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has released a number of videos showing American assets successfully striking specific targets, The White House took clips from those and spliced in pop culture references — everything from movie clips to professional sports plays — to drive the point home.
Some of the hype videos just featured an added soundtrack dubbed over videos of American missiles striking Iranian targets.
No pause. No hesitation. 💥 pic.twitter.com/TTjS98VKAb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 5, 2026
Another showed several large explosions, cutting after each one to a clip of Spongebob Squarepants saying, “You wanna see me do it again?”
Will not stop until the objectives are met.
Unrelenting. Unapologetic. 🔁 pic.twitter.com/iM9fqjn1zc
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 5, 2026
A montage of movie clips followed — with a caption reading, “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY” — featuring everything from “Braveheart” and “Tropic Thunder” to “Deadpool” and “Top Gun.”
JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY. 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/0502N6a3rL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026
The popular video game “Grand Theft Auto” made an appearance in one video that showed a male character walking down an alley followed by an explosion. The word “wasted” appeared on the screen in red as the target was obliterated.
“OPERATION EPIC FURY • Destroy Iran’s missile arsenal.• Destroy their navy.• Ensure they NEVER get a nuclear weapon. Locked in,” the caption read.
OPERATION EPIC FURY
• Destroy Iran’s missile arsenal.
• Destroy their navy.
• Ensure they NEVER get a nuclear weapon.
Locked in. pic.twitter.com/ika3MMJmZT
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026
“Pure American dominance” was the caption on a video featuring a series of Major League Baseball players swinging away — and then cutting to Iranian targets being blown sky high.
Pure American dominance. 💥🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/nvgWLar2ak
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026
The most recent video featured clips of NFL players getting hit, over and over again, cutting away at the moment of impact to show explosion after explosion.
Touchdown pic.twitter.com/aDNdqBdRzG
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026
Not everyone enjoyed the videos, however. CNN anchor Jake Tapper complained about them on Friday, saying that the White House had been “releasing what we will charitably call hype videos about their war.” After sharing the video, he added, “Are you not amused? That’s one of the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ video games spliced in between footage of U.S. strikes.”
Tapper shared a second video from earlier in the week that was made in similar fashion but had used clips from the “Call of Duty” game.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung shared Tapper’s segment, adding the caption, “Credit where credit is due. Thank you to @CNN for covering all of our banger videos.”
Credit where credit is due. Thank you to @CNN for covering all of our banger videos. pic.twitter.com/OAnMR3yrjA
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) March 6, 2026
Actor Ben Stiller also complained about the videos, objecting specifically to the few seconds from his film “Tropic Thunder” that appeared in one of the White House videos. “Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie.”
Stephen L. Miller pushed back on Stiller, saying, “I mean everything aside, Tropic Thunder’s main plot is that war is a movie.”