japanese anime fans petition trump after Donald Trump shared a Saturday Truth Social video depicting himself as Naruto Uzumaki. The post revived a petition in Japan that had already drawn almost 20,000 signatures and reignited objections to his use of Japanese anime and manga imagery.
Japan Petition Reaches Almost 20,000
Nana Suzuki, a 34-year-old Kanagawa resident, first launched the petition in March. By the time of the report, almost 20,000 people had signed it. The petition says Trump does not share the values represented by Naruto, Pikachu and Yu-Gi-Oh!, and argues that using those characters for political reasons could infringe the creators' rights.
Suzuki said she started the petition because of Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi. She said, "Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, passed away after attempting to rescue someone in the ocean" and added, "It deeply saddened me that his noble spirit, someone who tried to save others and the message of his work, was used in a military context, and that he is no longer alive to speak up himself."
White House X Account Posts
The backlash in Japan widened after the official White House X account released videos combining footage of US military strikes on Iran with clips from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball. A day later, the same account published an image with the phrase Make America Great Again on top of what appeared to be a screengrab from the Pokémon Pokopia video game. Fans in Japan began noticing Trump using images of Naruto, Pikachu and Yu-Gi-Oh! in March.
Pokemon Company International rejected the White House's use of its imagery. Sravanthi Dev, a Pokémon spokeswoman, said, "We were not involved in its creation or distribution" and added, "Our mission is to bring the world together, and that mission is not affiliated with any political viewpoint or agenda."
Trump and Naruto Uzumaki
Trump's Saturday Truth Social video depicting himself as Naruto Uzumaki pulled the dispute back to the center of the online campaign. One unnamed X user called the clip "hilarious." Another wrote, "Rather than criticising the clip, I'm proud that Japanese manga has taken the world by storm to the point where the President of America knows Naruto."
The petition now sits at the point where it has moved beyond a niche complaint and into a broader test of how far political messaging can go when it borrows from Japanese pop culture. The next step is whether the petition's pressure changes how Trump and the White House use anime and manga imagery in future posts.
