Following the recent escalation of the United States and Israel’s joint military campaign against Iran, the White House has taken to X to share a video promoting its ongoing operations. In addition to real footage from recent attacks, the video includes a killstreak animation from 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue. pic.twitter.com/kTO0DZ56IJ
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 4, 2026
The video begins with a Call of Duty player activating an MGB (Mass Guided Bombs) killstreak–a hidden killstreak that can only be issued by players who get 30 kills without dying. Once activated, players have only 10 seconds before the match ends, with the team that launched the attack emerging victorious. The remainder of the White House video features numerous clips from the United State’s recent military strikes against Iran with accompanying kill scores. This video was shared the same day that thousands in Iran attended a funeral mourning the estimated 175 civilians who were killed in these attacks, which demolished an elementary school. The White House denies responsibility for this particular attack, but is reportedly looking into it, per The Guardian.
GameSpot reached out to Activision for comment, but has yet to hear back from the company.
It remains unclear if Activision or its parent company, Microsoft, consented to the White House using footage from Call of Duty. Microsoft has come under scrutiny in recent years for its alleged support of Israel’s involvement in what has widely been recognized as a genocide in Palestine. Last year, The Guardian reported that Israel’s military surveillance agency heavily relies upon Microsoft’s cloud and Azure services to extensively monitor Palestinians. Microsoft denied this accusation, writing in a blog post that it conducted both internal and external reviews and “found no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.”
Microsoft and its gaming division are a target of the ongoing Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement. Furthermore, numerous Microsoft employees have called for the company to stop supporting Israel during its ongoing war in Gaza, which a UN Special Committee said was “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
“We think that Microsoft has no place being accomplice of a genocide, and as Microsoft employees, we don’t want to be part of this sinister project for Gaza,” Microsoft employees wrote in an open letter to the company. “Moreover, we think it’s our responsibility, as tech workers, to raise the alarm, and to ensure that our technologies are used to make the voices of the oppressed heard, and not facilitate their demise.”
This is not the first time the Trump administration has utilized video games to to promote their political agenda. Last year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a video of ICE and border patrol workers arresting people set to the Pokemon theme song. The following month, DHS shared an ICE recruitment ad featuring Master Chief driving a Warthog, with the caption, “Destroy the flood. Finishing the fight.” Shortly after, the White House posted an AI-generated image depicting Trump as Master Chief.
The Trump administration previously used music from popular artists without permission; it’s unclear if its use of Childish Gambino’s “Bonfire” in the above video was also unauthorized. As a result, Abba, Bad Bunny, Beyonce, Foo Fighters, SZA, The Smiths, Sabrina Carpenter, and other musicians have all demanded Trump and his administration refrain from using their music.