The White House rolled out a new section of its website called an online arcade, featuring several simple browser games styled after classic titles like Tetris, Flappy Bird, and Snake. The games were promoted on the White House's X account with the phrase 'CAN'T STOP WINNING. Build the wall. Deport. Fill a Trump Account.' Sources describe the games as low-effort, possibly AI- or 'vibe-coded,' knockoffs with no instructions and buggy mechanics.
The five games include Flappy Bill (a Flappy Bird clone featuring a bald eagle carrying a legislative bill), Build the Wall: Zombie Border Siege (a Tetris-style game about stacking blocks to stop a 'horde' at the 'Southern Border,' which unlike real Tetris does not clear completed lines), Rio Run (a Snake clone in which a white player character detains people of color depicted crossing the Rio Grande, who are then shown in orange jumpsuits and 'deported'), Supply Line (a game about sorting 'good' and 'bad' school lunch foods according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-style health messaging, featuring a Black boxer character who punches the screen for mistakes), and Trump Savings Tycoon (a clicking game about filling children's Trump Accounts, a savings program backed by wealthy donors including Jensen Huang and Michael Dell). A sixth, unoccupied game slot promises 'a new adventure awaits.'
Sources note the White House's promotional material for the arcade also mimicked video game console branding, including Nintendo, Xbox, Sega, GameCube, and PS2 logos and startup sounds, with a trailer using the Green Hill Zone theme from Sonic the Hedgehog. Commentators tied the arcade to a broader pattern of the administration using video game and anime imagery in social media posts, including past examples involving Persona 5, Halo, and Pokémon branding, as part of an effort to reach young male audiences online.
The Tetris Company responded on Instagram, saying it believes 'in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,' and clarified in a follow-up comment that it 'was not involved in the creation of Build the Wall,' adding, 'We take copyright infringement very seriously.' The company did not specify what action it might take, and as of the reporting, Build the Wall remained accessible on the White House site. Sources say this response stands out because other companies whose branding has appeared in past White House social posts, such as Pokémon, have only issued statements distancing themselves without describing legal action, and no game company has yet taken visible legal steps against the administration over such use.
One source notes that Japanese officials have reportedly lobbied behind the scenes to get the Trump administration to stop using video game and anime imagery in its social media posts, without success. Another source situates the arcade's launch alongside ongoing news the administration has faced criticism over, including the war with Iran, economic conditions, and the handling of the Epstein files, though it does not claim the arcade was created explicitly to distract from these matters beyond noting the correlation.
Coverage differs slightly in framing: some outlets emphasize the poor execution and technical shortcomings of the games as clones, while others focus more heavily on the racist and xenophobic implications of games like Build the Wall and Rio Run. All sources agree the games are widely seen as low-quality, that the Tetris Company's response is notable given the industry's general silence, and that further games are expected given the unfilled sixth arcade slot.