Minutes after President Donald Trump announced that he would not wipe out “a whole civilization” on Tuesday evening, a team of self-described young Iranian activists jumped into action.
Members of the group known as Explosive Media were putting the finishing touches on their latest AI-generated, LEGO Movie-inspired Trump video. The video features a Trump figurine colluding with leaders from Gulf states, Iranian officials pressing a big red button labelled “back to the stone age,” and Trump throwing a chair at US generals.
This was the latest of more than a dozen videos the pro-Iran group has released since the beginning of the war in February, many of which have racked up millions of views on mainstream platforms. While Iranian government accounts have posted LEGO-style videos in the past, Explosive Media’s content is more sophisticated, scripted, and produced by a team of young Iranians who appear deeply knowledgeable about the internet and American culture. Already, some critics have alleged the group has ties to the Iranian government.
“We were almost certain Trump would back down, it was clear to us,” a member of the Explosive Media team, who did not want to publicly identify themselves, tells WIRED. “We were prepared for this scenario and had content ready in advance. We just made a few adjustments and released it.”
The team even added mention of the 10-point plan Iran proposed as part of its decision to agree to a ceasefire. As the video concludes, a LEGO Trump is seen sitting next to the document, sobbing while holding a white flag and eating a taco—a knowing reference to the acronym for “Trump always chickens out.”
Within hours of Trump’s announcement, the video was ready and published on Explosive Media’s X account and Telegram channel, where it had the caption: “IRAN WON! The way to crush imperialism has been shown to the world. Trump Surrendered. TACO will always remain TACO.”
While the Trump administration has been posting memes that intercut war footage with movie clips that appeal to a narrow audience of loyal followers, Explosive Media’s LEGO videos have reached a much broader audience in the US—some of whom clearly liked what they saw.
“We’ve committed ourselves to learning more every day about American people and culture,” the Explosive Media team member tells WIRED. “In this process, Americans themselves have been helping us—and that support and guidance continues. They share impactful tips and ideas with us.”
Explosive Media began life in 2025 as a YouTube channel featuring political commentary delivered by a young Iranian man. The content never gained traction, with most videos racking up only a couple of hundred views.
But all that changed in February, when the group began posting LEGO videos, with the team scripting, producing, and editing each video using AI tools. (The group would not reveal which AI tools it was using.)
The videos quickly took hold on platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram.
“People are disengaging from some of the real conflict content and looking for something that can distill what’s happening quickly and in a language and tone that they understand and that’s what those LEGO videos are doing,” Moustafa Ayad, a researcher with the Institute of Strategic Dialogue who has closely tracking the online content being shared by Iranian groups during the war, tells WIRED. “They’re making it easily accessible to understand the conflict from Iran’s point of view, and it’s hitting on points of disaffection in the United States at the same time. It’s working on two fronts.”