The Pokémon Company has issued a statement expressing its disapproval of a Pokémon Pokopia meme that was utilized by the Trump administration.

This meme has gained popularity among various individuals, featuring the vibrant cover of Pokémon Pokopia with the game title altered to include personalized text. An example of this can be seen below, courtesy of Jim Trinca.

The Trump administration has a history of appropriating video game memes for political marketing, and recently, the official White House social media account shared an image playing off the Pokémon Pokopia theme. They modified the title to “Make America Great Again” and added a caption of “MAGA” along with an American flag and a lightning bolt emoji.

In response, The Pokémon Company promptly addressed the situation, clarifying that it did not authorize the White House to use its intellectual property in any social media content.

A spokesperson for the company commented, “We are aware of recent social media content that features imagery connected to our brand. We were not involved in its development or distribution, and we did not give permission for the use of our intellectual property.” They further emphasized, “Our mission is to unite the world, and it is not connected to any political perspective or agenda.”

The Pokémon Pokopia meme is not the only instance of a video game being misused in political contexts this month. Just a few days prior, footage from Call of Duty was featured in a video released by the White House’s social media team. This video depicted a character calling in a Kill Streak, followed by a montage of real military bombings complemented by point indicators of ‘+100.’

In reaction to this specific incident, Chance Glasco, co-founder of Infinity Ward, expressed that he was not surprised by the usage of the Call of Duty footage. He reminisced about the time when Activision exerted pressure on the studio to create a Call of Duty game centered around a conflict involving Iran and Israel. Attempts to get a response from Activision regarding this matter did not yield any comment.