Voice actor Steve Downes, greatest often called the voice behind Halo’s Master Chief, denounced a White House social media video that contained a clip of his character and glorified america and Israel’s continued army marketing campaign in Iran.
The video, shared by the White House X account, reveals real-life struggle footage with snippets of well-liked tv reveals and movies interspersed. Included within the montage of popular culture media is the ending of Halo 2: Anniversary, with Downes’s Master Chief uttering: “Ending this struggle,” instantly adopted by footage from an airstrike. The submit is captioned: “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY.”
Downes, in his personal X submit, condemned the video and its message, stating that his work was used with out permission. “It has come to my consideration that there’s no less than one propaganda video circulating that was both produced or on the very least endorsed by the White House that makes use of pictures of Master Chief and makes use of my voice to help the struggle in Iran,” the assertion reads. “Let me make this crystal clear: I didn’t take part in nor was I consulted, nor do I endorse the usage of my voice on this video, or the message it conveys.”
Concluding the assertion with a robust message, Downes states: “I demand that the producers of this disgusting and juvenile struggle porn take away my voice instantly.”
— Steve Downes (@SteveDownes117) March 8, 2026
That is removed from the primary time that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has invoked imagery from the Halo franchise to advertise its political agenda. In October, the White House posted a meme with an AI-generated picture depicting Trump as the Master Chief. The Division of Homeland Safety additionally marketed recruitment efforts for ICE with one other Halo meme evaluating immigrants to Halo’s Flood. Microsoft has provided no public touch upon the White House’s posts.
Additionally used within the White House video is a rendition of the Mortal Kombat theme music. The video additionally options footage of Tom Cruise as Maverick from Prime Gun, Keanu Reeves as John Wick, and Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Amid the army battle within the Center East, the White House has additionally used footage of Name of Responsibility: Fashionable Warfare 3 in a video making gentle of the destruction in Iran. The White House additionally obtained public backlash and an official assertion from The Pokemon Firm for referencing Pokopia in a meme posted final week.
Per The New York Times (through IGN), Trump administration spokesperson Abigail Jackson tried to justify the White House’s strategy to social media again in October 2025, stating: “By participating posts and banger memes, we’re efficiently speaking the president’s extraordinarily well-liked agenda.”
As famous by USA Today, the non-governmental humanitarian group Iranian Pink Crescent Society studies that the dying toll from the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran exceeded 1,300.