The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will continue sharing meme-y imagery and references to prominent geek IPs as it attempts to recruit ICE agents, the agency confirmed on Wednesday. In an official statement given to independent journalist Alyssa Mercante (via Game Developer), one White House spokesperson said Trump is “hugely popular with the American people and American Gamers.” Another statement, this time from a DHS spokesperson, says the agency plans to “reach people where they are with content they can relate to and understand, whether that be Halo, Pokemon, Lord of The Rings, or any other medium.” Per its response, the DHS is “laser focused” on undocumented immigrant-driven crime — despite experts’ repeated refutal.
Confirmation of the DHS’ plans comes just days after the official DHS account on X (formerly Twitter) shared AI-generated images of President Donald Trump as Halo protagonist Master Chief and ICE recruitment images urging users to “destroy the flood.” The latter — another Halo reference — cites the military shooter’s invasive parasitic enemies, called the Flood. “Finishing this fight,” the October 27 post reads. The post, shared in response to “anti-woke” games retailer GameStop, has accrued nearly 30 million views in the three days since it was posted.
‘Just got an email from DHS…’
On October 27, Mercante confirmed on Bluesky she had reached out to The White House regarding its Halo AI imagery. “I reached out to The White House and asked about its use of AI-generated Halo imagery. White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai just responded to me, and it’s insane.” Two days later, Mercante shared she had recieved a response from the DHS. “Just got an email from DHS…”
Mercante then shared a screenshot of the DHS’ email response. “Shocking: they’re leaning in to the evocation of nerd imagery to further rally their base of reactionary antisocial gamers,” Mercante writes. The official U.S. government correspondence contains insensitive language intentionally used to disparage undocumented immigrants.
The DHS’ X account has propagandized quotes and still images from other media since its Halo uploads made headlines. The most recent post, a quote and image from the Lord of the Rings film franchise, another prominent “geek” IP. The post has been viewed more than 4 million times in just over 24 hours. If the Tolkien estate has any objections, they’ll have to take a number. The Trump administration has recieved numerous takedown requests from creatives as President Donald Trump continues to share AI-generated videos set to very real — and very copyrighted — songs from popular musicians.
‘Halo’ devs speak out
One Game File report, published on Tuesday, features quotes from Halo developers both critical and supportive of the administration’s franchise-inspired ICE recruitment posters. Marcus Lehto, Halo co-creator and Master Chief designer, told Game File the Trump administration’s posts were “absolutely abhorrent,” adding that he’s sickened to “[see] Halo co-opted like this.”
Game File also included a statement from longtime franchise designer Jaime Griesemer, who said Halo “is a cultural icon and like anything with cultural capital, it is going to be used by politicians and brands and anyone else looking for relevancy.” Griesemer added that he usually “take[s] it as a compliment to Halo’s continuing legacy,” but the ICE recruitment image, in particular, crossed a line. “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,” Griesemer told Game File. “I personally find it despicable. The Flood are evil space zombie parasites and are not an allegory to any group of people.”
Not everyone who worked on the franchise is critical of the Trump administration’s posts. The Halo theme’s original composer, Martin O’Donnell, responded to the pro-ICE visuals, saying he will “work with the Trump administration to destroy the Flood once and for all!” According to Game File, O’Donnell has not worked on the franchise in years. The theme’s composer and vocal Republican is, however, running for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional seat in 2026. Despite stepping away from the sci-fi video game franchise, O’Donnell’s campaign website features quasi-tactical aesthetics, lens flares, and a merchandise store with pixel-art pro-ICE graphic tees to appeal to his gamer constituents.
Microsoft, the parent company behind Halo, has yet to issue a statement regarding the Trump administration’s posts.
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