DHS Says It Won’t Stop Using Video Games for Propaganda, Despite Outrage from Halo Creators

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) isn’t backing down. After a series of controversial social media posts featuring iconic games like Halo and Pokémon, government officials say they plan to keep using popular culture in their messaging, no matter what the original creators think.

Just this week, the White House shocked many with an AI-generated image posted to X. The image shows President Donald Trump as Master Chief from the Halo series. He salutes a US flag, awkwardly missing several stars, while brandishing a glowing Covenant energy sword. If that wasn’t jarring enough, the official DHS account followed up with a direct pitch: a Halo screenshot paired with the text, “destroy the Flood – join ICE”.

ICE, or US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has faced heavy criticism since Trump’s second term began. The agency’s reputation is tangled in allegations of civil rights abuses, masked raids, accusations of “kidnapping,” and a high-profile ruling from Los Angeles federal judges over racial profiling claims. So, when DHS uses a beloved Xbox shooter to encourage people to “destroy the Flood”, a loaded reference both to Halo enemies and to the so-called “flood” of illegal immigrants entering the US, it’s no wonder the backlash is intense.

Halo Devs Slam ICE Ad: “It Makes Me Sick”

The anger isn’t only coming from the public. Several core members of the original Halo team have spoken out about the government’s adoption of their work for political messaging. Marcus Lehto, Halo’s co-creator and the mastermind behind Master Chief, told Game File the ICE recruitment post was “absolutely abhorrent.” He added, “It really makes me sick seeing Halo co-opted like this.”

Not everyone from the old guard responded the same way. Marty O’Donnell, the iconic composer who helped define the series’ sound and is now running as a Republican congressional candidate in Nevada, actually praised the ad. He tweeted his willingness to “work with the Trump administration to destroy the Flood once and for all.”

But for Jaime Griesemer, a key designer behind the early Halo titles, the line was crossed. Griesemer admitted he found the Master Chief-Trump meme “amusing” on some level, since anything with that much cultural cachet will attract attention-seekers. Still, he had a firm boundary: “Using Halo imagery in a call to ‘destroy’ people because of their immigration status goes way too far, and ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation. I personally find it despicable. The Flood are evil space zombie parasites and are not an allegory to any group of people.”

No word yet from Microsoft, which owns the Halo franchise. The company has stayed silent on both the Trump-as-Master-Chief image and the ICE-themed recruitment post, even though Microsoft is known to hold government contracts and has donated to the Trump administration.

DHS Stands Firm on Pop Culture “Outreach”

Despite the uproar, the Department of Homeland Security isn’t changing course. In a statement to journalist Alyssa Mercante, a DHS spokesperson made it clear: “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.” The statement continued, “DHS remains laser focused on bringing awareness to the flood of crime that criminal illegal aliens have inflicted on our country. We aren’t slowing down.”

This isn’t the first time the government has dabbled with unauthorised use of gaming brands. Last month, The Pokémon Company International had to publicly distance itself from another DHS post. That video used the Pokémon anime’s theme song and the catchphrase “gotta catch ’em all” to depict ICE agents rounding up alleged illegal immigrants. The company told the BBC they were never asked for permission. “Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property.”

For many fans and developers, these acts of appropriating beloved games to sell a polarising political message feel like a new low. With the government openly stating that it’s not stopping, and major publishers like Microsoft and The Pokémon Company drawn into the controversy, the boundaries between entertainment, politics, and propaganda are looking blurrier than ever.