Hey, that’s our game
In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for The Tetris Company said it was “reviewing the matter” and that the company “was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall’ and did not authorize or license the Tetris brand or intellectual property for the game.” The company reiterated that message in a social media post Friday afternoon, writing that it “believe[s] in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them.”
P.S. The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall’.
P.P.S. We take copyright infringement very seriously. pic.twitter.com/Fu02khRpT3
— Tetris (@Tetris_Official) September 4, 2026
The Tetris Company has a long history of protecting its intellectual property via frequent takedown requests and legal proceedings against games that copy its gameplay and/or style. And while unofficial Tetris clones are still relatively easy to find, officially licensed versions of the game are available on everything from the Data Zapper M7000 to a giant plastic chicken McNugget.
While gameplay mechanics and rules are generally not copyrightable, the look and feel of a particular expression of those rules can be protected under US copyright law. In 2012, a Circuit Court judge identified some basic elements of Tetris that he said could earn this kind of “trade dress” protection when appearing in concert, including the size of the playfield and the “next piece” display. Legal arguments aside, the White House probably wants to avoid a prolonged public fight with the makers of a beloved video game during the run-up to federal legislative elections.
In promoting the launch of the White House Arcade site, the White House social media team created parody videos mimicking the iconic start-up sequences from classic game consoles from Sega, Nintendo, and Sony. The Trump administration has previously used explicit Halo imagery to promote its military policies, a move that resulted in pointed silence from Microsoft.