The White House has drawn criticism from “One Piece” fans after sharing an AI-generated image featuring President Donald Trump and senior administration officials as characters from the popular anime.
The Monday post showed Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other officials aboard the Going Merry, the ship used by Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates crew. However, fans questioned the choice, arguing that the series’ themes contradict the ideology of the MAGA movement.
One Piece fans criticize White House AI image featuring Donald Trump and JD Vance
The image featured Trump alongside Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The White House captioned the post, “The Mark of a Good Crew ??.” The image also showed the ship’s sheep figurehead wearing a MAGA hat and the Straw Hats’ Jolly Roger emblem on its mast.
Fans quickly criticized the post, pointing to the anime’s themes of resistance against oppression and authoritarian rule. The Straw Hats’ flag has also appeared at protests worldwide as a symbol of resistance, as CNN reported last year.
One X user wrote, “One Piece inherently champions themes that stand in direct opposition to the core tenets of the MAGA movement. At its heart, Eiichiro Oda’s narrative is a massive critique of authoritarianism, isolationism, and systemic oppression. You have no original concepts, fuck off.”
Another commented, “Leave One Piece alone”.
A third user criticized the account’s understanding of the anime, writing, “Zero media literacy from whoever runs the page”. The post included an image from the series with the message, “No happiness can be found in a country that eliminates people they deem unnecessary.”
Other fans questioned why the “celestial dragons”, the privileged World Nobles in the series, were “larping as pirates.”
A popular “One Piece” account also shared an edited image depicting Trump as Saint Charlos, one of the franchise’s most disliked characters. Another user posted a clip from a 2009 episode showing Luffy punching Charlos and sending him flying.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has used anime references to promote its agenda. Earlier this year, the White House shared clips from “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and “Dragon Ball Z” to promote its military campaign in Iran. The posts also drew criticism from Japanese fans and officials over the use of copyrighted anime imagery.
