Politics & Governance
Tetris says White House game lacked its permission
Tetris said Friday it did not give the White House permission to use the game's imagery in an online arcade game released by US President Donald Trump's administration.
“The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall’ and did not authorize or license the Tetris brand or intellectual property for the game,” Tetris said in a statement to AFP. “We are currently reviewing the matter.”
Build the Wall is a block-stacking game with instructions telling players to “protect the border from the coming horde.” It was among several web-only games published Thursday on the official White House website under a new “arcade” page.
The White House games drew criticism from rights groups over racist themes and raised questions about possible copyright violations. The games and related promotional material included images resembling work by Tetris and other major game developers, including Sega, Microsoft-owned Xbox and the Flappy Bird Foundation.
In a social media post, Tetris said it believed in “bringing people together, not dividing them,” and added: “P.P.S. We take copyright infringement very seriously.”
Promotional White House content also included images resembling Xbox trademarks and designs. Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment, and Sega Corporation could not immediately be reached.
One White House clip showed letters from the Sega logo changing into MAGA, the acronym for Make America Great Again. Another game, Flappy Bill, features a bald eagle carrying a document while avoiding columns against a background resembling Washington, DC.
The White House said Thursday the administration was “laser focused on ways to innovate and tell the story of the President's many accomplishments in a way that resonates with every American.”
Rights groups criticized the games. Amerika Garcia Grewal, co-director of the Frontera Federation in Eagle Pass, Texas, said the administration had been “playing games with people's lives” and had now made a video game of its actions.
Trump campaigned on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants and has taken actions since returning to power aimed at speeding up deportations and reducing border crossings. The White House is trying to promote Trump's second term ahead of November's midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake.
Update
Tetris said it was not involved in creating the Build the Wall game and did not authorize or license its brand or intellectual property for it.
Tetris said it was reviewing the matter.
Tetris said in a social media post that it takes copyright infringement seriously.
The item says White House promotional content also included images resembling trademarks and designs from Microsoft-owned Xbox; Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment and Sega could not immediately be reached.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 23:21:08 UTC.
Update
A third game involves collecting nets to put in so-called Trump accounts, described as investment accounts with a $1,000 deposit for children born from 2025 through 2028.
Adriana Jasso of AMIGOS San Diego Community said the games showed a lack of seriousness and presented the issue as if it were a game.
The source version adds more detail on the White House's social media-style framing and past backlash over its use of artists' music.
Source note: AFP news report published on 3 September 2026 at 23:51:59 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Whether the White House games or promotional material legally infringed any copyright or trademark has not been established in the supplied material.
Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment, and Sega Corporation could not immediately be reached.
Source
AFP news report published on .