President Donald Trump has decided the best way to announce his plan to reimpose the Iran sanctions is to co-opt a popular “Game of Thrones” saying. That’s right, according to Trump, “Sanctions are coming.”
And he even created a poster, fully admitting to the ‘Thrones’ allusion by using the same font that the HBO series has made famous. Except there’s no Jon Snow or Daenerys Targaryen to be seen. Just a big ol’ image of Trump’s favorite TV character of all time — himself.
Yesterday, HBO was probably celebrating all the press that “Game of Thrones” received, thanks to a huge article and cover image in the latest edition of EW. Today, however, the network was not very pleased by the latest “Game of Thrones” promotion, courtesy of the 45th President of the US.
In a statement (via Deadline), HBO said, “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.” As Trump is not someone known for acquiescing to common courtesy, we can assume that instead of pulling the image from his Twitter, we can fully expect a tweeted response at some point later today.
For those not aware of the “sanctions” that the poster is referencing, this sadly has nothing to do with the Starks’ foreboding warning against the evils that lie on the other side of the wall. Instead, Trump is referencing “the toughest sanctions” ever imposed on Iran that he plans on instituting next week, after the US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal. That deal, as agreed to by then-President Obama, took away previous sanctions against the country. If you want to read more, then there’s plenty of information about the deal available.
For those that aren’t interested in the President of the United States or his attempts to cast himself in the popular George R.R. Martin-created franchise, “Game of Thrones” is scheduled to return sometime in 2019.
How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?
— HBO (@HBO) November 2, 2018
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018