Watch: White House Uses Call of Duty 'Killstreak' Footage to Promote Iran Strikes Video

The White House turned war into a video game highlight reel.

On Wednesday, the official White House X account posted a one-minute video that opens with footage from 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III' before cutting to real US missile strikes hitting Iranian targets. As of writing, the clip has racked up more than 48 million views.

But here's what most coverage missed: the specific animation isn't just any killstreak. It's the MGB, or Mass Guided Bombs. According to TMZ, it's a hidden reward in the 2023 game that only unlocks after a player gets 30 consecutive kills without dying. Once triggered, it works like a nuke. The match ends. Everyone on the opposing team dies. You win.

The video, captioned 'Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue,' then cuts to black-and-white footage of missiles hitting Iranian targets. The editors added '+100' kill scores in the style of the game's scoring system.

The Gaming Slang That Followed

White House communications director Steven Cheung didn't stop there. He responded to the post with 'Ws in the chat, boys!,' according to CNN. In gaming slang, 'W' means win. Players type it in chat to celebrate victories.

This happened four days after a strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, which killed at least 165 people on 28 February. Most of the dead were schoolchildren aged seven to 12, according to reports. UNESCO called it 'a grave violation of humanitarian law.'

Neither the US nor Israel has claimed responsibility. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters the Pentagon is investigating. NPR reported that analysts believe the strike was more likely American than Israeli, based on the munitions type and the school's location in southeastern Iran.

On 3 March, thousands gathered in Minab for a mass funeral. Rows of freshly dug graves waited for the children.

Third Time With Gaming IP

This isn't new territory for the administration. In September 2025, the Department of Homeland Security posted a video of ICE raids set to the Pokémon theme song. The caption read 'Gotta Catch 'Em All.' The following month, DHS used Halo imagery with the phrases 'Finishing the fight' and 'Destroy the Flood' to recruit for immigration enforcement, Kotaku reported.

A DHS spokesperson told journalist Alyssa Mercante at the time: 'We will reach people where they are with content they can relate to and understand, whether that be Halo, Pokémon, Lord of the Rings, or any other medium.'

What the Polls Say

The celebratory tone clashes with what Americans actually think. A CNN/SSRS poll conducted on 28 February and 1 March found that 59% disapprove of the decision to strike Iran. Six in 10 said they don't believe the president has a clear plan. The poll surveyed 1,004 adults by text message.

The economic hit is already showing up at petrol stations. The national average jumped to $3.25 (£2.43) per gallon this week, the highest of 2026, according to AAA. Tuesday's 11-cent overnight spike was the biggest single-day increase since March 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told Axios.

'They Think War Is a Video Game'

Veterans affairs activist Paul Rieckhoff called the video 'inappropriate, juvenile and unacceptable' in a post on X. 'They think war is a video game,' he wrote.

Gaming streamer Jake Lucky put it differently: 'The White House releasing a Call of Duty montage was not on the bingo card.'

The conflict has killed six US service members and more than 1,100 Iranians so far, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died in the initial strikes. For Americans watching petrol prices climb while the White House posts kill compilations, the gap between the messaging and the body count grows wider by the day.

The administration turned war into a video game. The problem is, it isn't one.