On September 9, the official U.S. White House social media account released a promotional video mimicking the style of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, sparking widespread controversy. The video featured text reading "The Legend of Trump Make America Great Again," closely resembling the title screen of Ocarina of Time 3D, and starred a low-poly 3D model of Trump walking toward the White House and working in the Oval Office.
The timing of the video's release was quite delicate—just the day before (September 8), Nintendo had announced the release date and gameplay footage for the Ocarina of Time remake during the "The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct," with game hype at its peak. The White House clearly aimed to capitalize on the traffic generated by the gaming topic for promotion.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has "borrowed" Japanese game IPs for official promotions. Previously, official accounts such as the White House and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have repeatedly used assets from works like Wii Sports, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! to create promotional content, each time sparking copyright controversies. In April this year, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi publicly stated at the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs: "Generally speaking, it is inappropriate for public institutions to reproduce works without the permission of the copyright holder." It is reported that the Japanese government has repeatedly raised the issue with the U.S. side through its embassy in the United States.
Nintendo is well known for actively protecting its intellectual property. Just last week, the company filed a lawsuit against the United States over tariff issues. In the face of this "knockoff" promotion directly targeting its flagship IP, whether Nintendo will take legal action has become a focal point of external attention.
As of now, Nintendo has not issued an official statement regarding this matter.