White House posts montage of movie clips and real strikes on Iran

The White House’s social media blurs the lines of reality, posting montages that wove snippets of Hollywood blockbusters and video games into real footage of military strikes on Iran.

A 42-second video posted on X with the caption “Justice the American way” opens with a scene from “Iron Man” and the line “Wake up, Daddy’s home” — perhaps a reference to an expression used by NATO chief Mark Rutte, who once referred to US President Donald Trump as “daddy.”

What follows, in rapid fire, are clips from male actors cast as heroes, including Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick,” Mel Gibson in “Braveheart,” Russell Crowe in “Gladiator,” Bryan Cranston in “Breaking Bad,” and Keanu Reeves in “John Wick.”

Hollywood’s heroics are interspersed with footage released by the US military showing real strikes on various targets.

OPERATION EPIC FURY

• Destroy Iran’s missile arsenal.
• Destroy their navy.
• Ensure they NEVER get a nuclear weapon.

Locked in. pic.twitter.com/ika3MMJmZT

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026

Actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller on Friday called on the White House to remove a clip in the video from “Tropic Thunder,” a satirical 2008 film about war movies that he directed and co-wrote.

“We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie,” Stiller wrote on X.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth also appears briefly, in a clip taken from a real briefing, where he says “F-A” before a clip from a “Transformers” movie says “time to find out,” using a CGI autobot.

The reference here is to a crude expression very popular in the Trump administration, used to describe its uncompromising attitude towards any adversary: “F-A-F-O” or “Fuck around and find out.”

JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/0502N6a3rL

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026

In a second post, the White House interspersed real war footage with a scene from the video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” in which the player’s character is heard repeatedly saying “Ah shit, here we go again,” before footage of strikes on Iranian targets.