Anime fans have had enough of Donald Trump and the White House posting pictures of the US President dressed or transformed as popular characters from anime and manga, as well as video games. An AI generated image showing Trump as Naruto has been the final straw, and an online petition in Japan asking the US President to stop using anime footage for its propaganda has reached over 19,000 signatures on Change.org.
The online petition was originally launched last March, when the White House posted an image that showed footage of military strikes over Iran mixed with footage from Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series. Trump's propaganda team also used footage of Wii Sports mixed with images of "Operation Epic Fury" in Iran.
<social>https://x.com/animeupdates/status/2063326173371756740</social>
"For many years, these works have inspired audiences around the world by conveying values such as courage, friendship, and perseverance. Because of this, many fans feel concerned when images from these works appear to be used in political or military contexts that may differ from the intentions of the original creators or rights holders", the petition reads, which also claims the concerns are not limited to Japan, but also international communities have protested about the recontextualization of these works.
The original petition was submitted to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March, which made a request to the U.S. Embassy in Japan regarding the unauthorised use of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Nintendo games on the official White House X account. The petition was relaunched on Tuesday June 9 after a new video posted on Truth Social shows Trump as if he was Naruto, hoping to convey our protest to the right holders with urgency.
"On June 9, 2026, a Naruto-style video was posted on President Trump's official social media. Therefore, we are reopening this petition as an urgent effort to convey our protest and concern regarding this matter to the rights holders and to work in solidarity to lobby the Japanese government", the petition reads.
"We sincerely hope that respect for the works and their creators, as well as pride in Japan's manga culture, will continue to be cherished around the world."