Nearly 20,000 people have signed an online petition after Donald Trump posted a Truth Social video on Saturday depicting himself as Naruto Uzumaki, turning a stunt that some fans found amusing into a fresh flashpoint over the use of Japanese anime in politics.
The petition was started by Nana Suzuki, a 34-year-old anime and manga fan from Kanagawa, who said she felt compelled to take action. Trump’s post revived anger that has been building since March, when fans in Japan began noticing him using images of Naruto, Pikachu and Yu-Gi-Oh! in his social media posts, along with White House X videos that mixed footage of U.S. military strikes on Iran with clips from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball.
The petition argues that Trump does not share the values of the characters he is borrowing and that using them for political reasons could infringe the creators’ rights. Suzuki said Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, died after trying to rescue someone in the ocean, and that it deeply saddened her to see his spirit and the message of his work used in a military context when he is no longer alive to object. That grievance has made this more than an internet joke for many fans, even if a small group online said they found the clip hilarious and believed it would only boost Naruto’s international recognition.
The backlash has also drawn in rights holders. Pokémon Company International condemned the use of its imagery and said the White House did not have permission to use it. Sravanthi Dev, a spokeswoman for the company, said it was not involved in the creation or distribution of the material and that the firm’s mission is to bring the world together, not to back any political viewpoint or agenda.
What happens next is still unclear, but the petition has already turned a brief social media post into a broader dispute over political messaging, copyright and how far public figures can go when they borrow globally recognized characters for their own campaigns.
