Ben Stiller has asked The White House to remove a clip of “Tropic Thunder” from its latest pop culture montage celebrating war.
“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,” the actor/writer/director wrote Friday on X. “War is not a movie.”
The White House initially shared the video on Thursday, captioning it, “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY.” The post also features scenes from “Braveheart,” “Transformers,” “Halo,” “Iron Man,” “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and even Secretary of War Pete Hegseth himself.
Stiller is the latest celebrity to call out Trump for using content without permission. On Monday, singer-songwriter Kesha criticized the White House for using her song “Blow” in a video about the U.S. military, calling it “disgusting and inhumane.” In December 2025, Sabrina Carpenter blasted the White house over its use of her song “Juno” for a video promoting immigration raids, also calling the move “evil and disgusting.” And even the Pokémon Company formally pushed back against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in May 2025 for using footage and music from its animated series without permission.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. released a massive coordinated airstrike attack on Iran with Israel, firing off nearly 900 strikes in the first 12 hours. Airstrikes from both sides have carried on, with the at least 1,000 people having died thus far.
