Over the past few days, the White House has been posting a series of highly stylised war videos on social media.
The clips combine real footage of US military operations in Iran with scenes from Hollywood films, video games, sports broadcasts, and even Spongebob Squarepants, edited together with dramatic music and rapid cuts.
One widely shared video, viewed 64 million times according to X's metrics, intersperses footage of missile strikes with scenes from films like Iron Man 2, Gladiator, Braveheart, Top Gun, Tropic Thunder and Star Wars.
The caption reads: "JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY."
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs in combat, posted on X saying: "War is not a video game. Six Americans are dead and thousands more are at needless risk because of your illegal, unjustified war."
Actor Ben Stiller, who starred in and directed the film Tropic Thunder, which appeared in one of the videos, posted on X and asked the White House to remove the clip. He said they had never received permission and that he had no interest in being part of what he called a "propaganda machine".
JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY. 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/0502N6a3rL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026
The White House has defended the videos. A spokesperson told ABC News that "legacy media wants us to apologise for highlighting the United States Military's incredible success, but the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran's ballistic missiles, production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time".
Analysts who spoke to RTÉ News said these kinds of videos appeal directly to President Trump's base.
Matthew Baum, Professor of Global Communications at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, says the imagery used in the videos is aimed at appealing to a particular vision of masculinity and strength that resonates with parts of the base.
"They decided a long time ago that part of that strategy is this approach to disaffected men, the Joe Rogan-type audience member, who feels like the system has been stacked against white men," he said.
"And in particular that white men needed to rediscover their inner 'alpha', so to speak."
The videos' heavy use of action-film imagery, sports references and militaristic symbolism, he says, fits within that broader political messaging style.
The style of the videos also reflects how warfare and political communication are evolving in the social media era, with governments increasingly producing content designed to spread on platforms such as TikTok, X and Instagram.
President Trump's 2024 campaign placed particular emphasis on TikTok and other short-form video platforms popular with younger voters. Advisers told Reuters at the time that the strategy was aimed at reaching younger male audiences through meme culture and influencer-style content.
Prof Baum also said energising that base could also have wider effects within the Republican Party.
"The key to keeping the party in line in Congress and in the states is fear that if they cross the administration, Trump's base can be counted on to punish them," he said.
"So what you need to make that connection robust is to keep the base fired up and loyal."
Dr Emma Briant, a propaganda researcher and visiting associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, says the messaging also reflects what she describes as the "weaponisation of masculinity".
"They are seeking to promote this very force-centric and brutal way of international affairs. It's all about, are you with me or against me? And basically exerting power through force in international affairs."
For years, many within the MAGA movement have been strongly opposed to US involvement in foreign wars. Ending America's "forever wars" was a central theme of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
Since returning to office in 2025, the United States has carried out military strikes or operations in at least seven countries, including Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria, Venezuela and, most recently, Iran.
"One of the tenets of MAGA was 'no more forever wars'," Prof Baum said.
That means the administration may now be trying to persuade supporters who are sceptical about another Middle East conflict, particularly as oil prices fluctuate.
"The juxtaposition of economic shocks on the one hand with imagery that seems to trivialise the conflict as if it were like a sporting event or a war game is going to be a shock to the system for a lot of people," he said.
"This is not the ideal issue for firing up MAGA. One of the reasons, perhaps, that they're going to this extreme is to try to build momentum among a group of supporters whose instinct might not be to be enthusiastic about a foreign war in the Middle East."
Another element of this messaging, according to Prof Baum, is provoking critics.
"A substantial benefit from the perspective of the MAGA base is anything that 'owns the libs'," he said. "Part of firing up the base is the finger in the eye to the other side who's going to be offended by this."
Shift in messaging
Dr Briant says this kind of messaging marks a significant departure from previous US wartime communications.
"This is a transformation of government messaging completely different to what we have seen in the past," she said.
Previous administrations, she says, generally tried to build broad national support for military action.
"Where Republicans in the past might have tried to generalise the war and pull more people behind it, there's no sense that they are really that worried what Democrats or Independents think," she said.
"It is purely pushed at followers, rallying them and ensuring partisan support."
That shift has much wider implications, Dr Briant says. "When governments stop trying to represent everyone, then I worry about democracy and what that means," Dr Briant said.
"I worry about the fact that people who don't agree are not seen as people we should win on board."
"Whatever we like to think of propaganda," she added, "there is an idea that you govern by consent and you want to win the support of the people, whoever they are."
