Ben Stiller Tells White House to Remove 'Tropic Thunder' Clip

Mar 6, 2026 11:40am PT Ben Stiller Tells Trump’s White House to Remove ‘Tropic Thunder’ Clip From Pro-War Video: ‘We Never Gave You Permission’ and ‘War Is Not a Movie’ By Jazz Tangcay Plus Icon Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor @jazzt Latest Palm Springs Film Festival and Awards Set 2027 Dates – Film News in Brief 3 hours ago How Formula 1’s Live Broadcast Center Captures the Story of Speed 1 day ago Nina Gold on Her Favorite Casting Moments: From Jacobi Jupe in ‘Hamnet’ to Adam Driver in ‘The Force Awakens’ and More 2 days ago See All ©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection Ben Stiller has slammed the Donald Trump’s White House for using a clip from the 2008 film “Tropic Thunder.” The White House post said, “Justice the American way” and showed clips from “Braveheart,” “Top Gun,” “Superman,” “Transformers” and more. Stiller responded on X and said, “Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie.” Related Stories 'The Bride!' Is the Latest Example of a New Wave of Feminist Horror — Experts Break Down What It Says About Women and Control ‘Frankenstein’ Lead Oscar Isaac, 'La Llorona' Director Jayro Bustamante Push for Guatemala Film Law Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie. https://t.co/dMQqRxxVCa— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) March 6, 2026 Stiller played Tugg Speedman in the 2008 satire. Popular on Variety This is far from the first time the White House and Trump have used movies or songs on social media to help praise the President or his initiatives. Last year, he used Sabrina Carpenter’s “Juno” in a post that depicted ICE raids. Prior to the White House co-opting Carpenter’s music for its ICE agenda, it did the same with Taylor Swift. A video that dropped in November used Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” in a montage celebrating Trump despite the U.S. president’s frequent social media posts bashing Swift. The pop star did not comment on the video. “Top Gun” songwriter Kenny Loggins made headlines in October when he spoke out against the White House’s use of his hit song “Danger Zone” in a video that depicted Trump flying over No Kings protestors and dropping poop all over them. “This is an unauthorized use of my performance of ‘Danger Zone.’ Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately,” Loggins said. Jump to Comments ‘The Ballad of Judas Priest’ Review: Delightful Metal Doc Is a Rock-Solid Directorial Debut for Rage Against the Machine Guitarist Tom Morello ‘The Blood Countess’ Review: A Hilarious Isabelle Huppert Fully Puts the Vamp Into Vampire ‘The Garden We Dreamed’ Review: Powerful Mexican Migrant Drama Finds Moments of Serenity Amid Adversity ‘Nightborn’ Review: Rupert Grint and Seidi Haarla Headline an Effective Blend of Finnish Mythology and Cronenbergian Horror ‘Nina Roza’ Review: An Eerily Doubled, Intricately Mirrored and Deeply Moving Reflection on Immigrant Identity ‘Flies’ Review: Family Crisis Disrupts a Woman’s Solitude in Fernando Eimbcke’s Lovely, Lingering Charmer JavaScript is required to load the comments. Loading comments...