Government officials in Japan have reportedly asked the Trump administration multiple times to stop using franchises like Pokémon, Nintendo, Naruto, and more in the political slop it posts on social media. The White House social media team has spent the better part of a year doing its best “How do you do, fellow kids?” In September 2025, for instance, the Department of Homeland Security released a video of the original Pokémon theme song playing over footage of ICE arrests. The Pokémon Company responded to the incidents in which its content was used, declaring that it had no involvement and claiming the Trump administration did not seek permission to use their content. But now it seems the Japanese government has been lobbying behind the scenes, hoping to get Trump and his legion of social media trolls to consider the damage it’s doing to Japanese works.