White House uses video game ‘Call of Duty’ footage in promoting Iran strikes

The White House has drawn widespread attention after posting a video about U.S. military strikes on Iran that begins with footage resembling a scene from the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

The video, shared on the White House’s official account on X, opens with an animation that appears to show a player activating a “killstreak” in the popular game before transitioning to real footage of missiles striking targets inside Iran.

In the Call of Duty series, a “killstreak” is triggered when a player eliminates multiple opponents without being defeated. The animation used in the video shows the moment a player reaches 30 consecutive eliminations, unlocking a large missile strike designed to wipe out the opposing team.

Following the gaming-style animation, the video cuts to real-life missile strike footage released by United States Central Command, showing explosions at targets during the ongoing military operation against Iran.

The unusual combination of gaming imagery and real-world military action quickly generated debate online. As of Thursday morning, the clip had attracted more than 36 million views on X, sparking widespread reactions and discussion across social media.

The post also revived criticism of previous government messaging tactics. In the current administration of President Donald Trump, officials have consistently incorporated pop-culture references into official communications.

For example, the United States Department of Homeland Security once used the theme song from Pokémon, “Gotta Catch ’Em All”, in a video showing immigration enforcement operations. A separate recruiting message also used imagery from the video game Halo.

Representatives for Activision, the company behind Call of Duty, have not yet commented on the use of the game footage in the White House video.