The White House used Tropic Thunder to sell the Iran war, so Ben Stiller just reminded them what his movie was actually about

Ben Stiller has publicly called out President Trump’s administration for using a clip from his 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder in a White House video that appears to promote the ongoing war in Iran. Stiller posted on X, saying: “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.” His message was short and clear: “War is not a movie.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the White House video is a supercut that mixes clips from Hollywood films and TV shows, including Gladiator, Braveheart, Iron Man, Breaking Bad, Deadpool, and Top Gun, with real drone strike footage. It ends with a voiceover declaring “flawless victory.”

This is not the first time celebrities have had to ask the Trump White House to stop using their work. In December, Sabrina Carpenter asked for her song Juno to be removed from a video promoting ICE deportations. The month before, Olivia Rodrigo made a similar request about her song “All-American Bitch.” And in October, Kenny Loggins asked for his Top Gun hit “Danger Zone” to be pulled from a video showing a fighter jet attacking protesters.

The White House’s Iran war video drew sharp criticism for treating real conflict like a blockbuster film

The public reaction was fast and largely negative. Journalist Séamus Malekafzali wrote that he did not think “a more embarrassing and humiliating thing has ever been produced before by any government in human history.” ABC Saturday Extra host Nick Bryant questioned if there were “any grown ups in the White House,” adding: “Is there any understanding of the seriousness and horror of war? This is frat house not White House.”

The satirical Evan Loves Worf account called it “the most ‘everyone is 12’ s— I’ve ever seen.” Podcaster Vince Mancini made a comparison to the Iraq War, asking why bother with justifications when “you can just slap together a s—-y supercut of old movies.” This kind of messaging is part of a broader pattern of embarrassing White House communication blunders that have drawn public ridicule in recent months.

The video’s release came just one day after it was reported that U.S. military investigators believe U.S. forces were likely responsible for a strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed scores of children the previous Saturday.

The White House video was seen by many as a deliberate attempt to provoke those who expected a more serious tone from the administration on the matter of war, particularly following that reported strike. Questions have also been raised about how the U.S. is managing its weapons supply amid the ongoing military campaign against Iran.

The pattern of using copyrighted creative work without permission, and the response from artists each time, points to a growing tension between the administration’s messaging style and how many creators and members of the public view the gravity of military action.