White House launches MAGA arcade games, sparks backlash over deportation themes

The Trump White House launched “Arcade,” a collection of five retro-style browser games intended to promote the administration’s policies and MAGA agenda. “Build the Wall,” a Tetris-style game about stopping a “coming horde” at the border, and “Rio Run,” a Snake-like game in which players collect migrants for deportation, drew the strongest criticism. Other games promote Trump savings accounts, legislation and the administration’s school-lunch policies. Democrats, immigration advocates and some conservative commentators condemned the games as dehumanizing political propaganda and questioned whether taxpayer resources were used to create them. The Tetris Company said it was not involved in “Build the Wall” and warned that it takes copyright infringement seriously, while Sega reportedly declined to comment on promotional material that appeared to use its branding and audio. The White House defended the project as an innovative way to communicate its accomplishments and contrast its agenda with Democrats’ policies.