President Donald Trump to stop using popular characters from Japanese franchises in his social media posts, arguing that the content is being used without permission and in inappropriate political contexts.
More than 20,000 people have signed an online petition titled «Protect Japanese Manga,» which criticizes the use of characters and imagery from series including Naruto, Dragon Ball, and Yu-Gi-Oh! in content shared by Trump and official White House accounts. The campaign gained renewed attention after Trump posted an image portraying himself as Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist of the globally popular manga series.
The petition was originally launched earlier this year after a White House video combined footage of U.S. military strikes with scenes from Japanese anime. Organizers say they have also raised the issue with the Japanese government.
Fans argue that manga and anime works promote values such as friendship, perseverance, and courage, and should not be associated with political or military messaging. Several social media users have accused the administration of showing disrespect toward Japanese culture and intellectual property rights.
The official account for Yu-Gi-Oh! previously stated that neither the creators nor the production team had authorized the use of the franchise’s intellectual property in government posts. Publishers linked to Naruto have also faced questions from fans about potential copyright concerns.
The White House has not publicly responded to the latest criticism.
