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.”

U.S. President Donald Trump met executives from seven defense contractors on Friday, he announced in a social media post, as the Pentagon works to replenish supplies drawn down by U.S. strikes on Iran and other recent military operations.

The meeting underscores the Trump administration’s drive to shore up weapons stocks after the Iran operation drew on munitions.

“We just concluded a very good meeting with the largest U.S. Defense Manufacturing Companies where we discussed Production and Production Schedules,” Trump said in a social media post.

Companies including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon parent RTX, BAE Systems, Boeing , Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris and Northrop Grumman, attended the meeting, Trump said.

Pentagon negotiators have not been able to reach terms with large defense contractors as quickly as they would like, a U.S. official told Reuters earlier this week.

The administration has been steadily ratcheting up pressure on defense contractors to prioritize production over shareholder payouts. Trump signed an executive order in January to identify contractors deemed to be underperforming on contracts while distributing profits to shareholders.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and Israel’s military operations in Gaza, the U.S. has drawn down billions of dollars’ worth of weapons stockpiles, including artillery systems, ammunition and anti-tank missiles.

In a sign of the preparations underway ahead of Friday’s gathering, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg held a call with select defense contractors on Wednesday evening, a previously unreported development, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

At the center of the talks are deals with large contractors like Lockheed Martin, two government sources and one industry executive said. In January the company reached a seven-year agreement with the Pentagon to increase annual production capacity for its PAC-3 missile interceptors to 2,000 units a year from about 600 previously. The company has announced it expects to quadruple production of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile interceptors to 400 per year from 96.

In the social media post following Friday’s meeting Trump said the companies had agreed to quadruple production of precision-guided munitions – but clarified efforts to increase production began three months ago.

Demand for air defense systems such as the PAC‑3 has surged among the United States and its allies amid heightened geopolitical tensions and the conflict in Iran.

The White House meeting also may coincide with the release of a supplemental budget request of around $50 billion, which Reuters was first to report on Tuesday. The new money would pay for replacing weapons used in recent conflicts including those in the Middle East. The figure is preliminary and could change depending on the length of the operation.

The supplemental request would come on top of an additional $150 billion in defense spending included in Republicans’ sweeping “one big beautiful bill.”

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)