White House embroiled in console wars, releases AI image of Donald Trump showing Master Chief saluting in front of American flag, with major errors

Microsoft's announcement stated Halo: Campaign Evolved Coming to PlayStation is the final nail in the coffin of Xbox exclusives, marking the end of the console wars for some. Now, the White House has weighed in on an AI image of Donald Trump depicting him as a saluting Master Chief, and well… there's something very wrong with that.

For the uninitiated, Halo: Combat Evolved is a remaster of the 2001 Halo: Combat Evolved campaign and will launch on Xbox Series X and S, PC, and PlayStation 5 sometime in 2026. It's the first Halo game to launch on the PlayStation console, cementing Microsoft's position as a multi-platform video game developer.

A few years ago, when Microsoft started its multi-platform push, the idea of ​​a Halo game on the PlayStation console might have been too much to swallow (Part of the reason is reportedly a need to improve Xbox Studios' profit margins). Perhaps that's what prompted American video game store GameStop to issue a statement on Twitter declaring the console wars over.

Someone somewhere inside the White House saw the tweet and thought it was a good choice. The tweet shows the President of the United States as Halo protagonist Master Chief – apparently generated by artificial intelligence – holding an energy sword and saluting in front of the White House and the American flag.

Power to players https://t.co/GqNu0qdgmw pic.twitter.com/4Hw6G7i7aW

— White House (@WhiteHouse) October 27, 2025

But look closely at that flag and you'll see an error – there should be 50 stars, but there are 40. As Master Chief, did Trump tease plans to wipe 10 states off the U.S. map? Could the AI ​​powering the creation of this image hint at the end of generative AI? Should we be worried?

Does Trump claim to have played a key role in ending the console wars? Is the White House playing a trick on the player base here? It's hard to say what the image was intended to achieve, but it certainly went viral, with 9.3 million views at the time of publication. IGN has asked Microsoft for comment.

This is a particularly strange “collaboration” from the White House, given Trump's previous comments about video games. In 2019, Trump suggested that one way to prevent future mass shootings in the United States was to take a firm stance against violent video games.

“We have to stop glorifying violence in our society,” he said. “This includes the horrific video games that are now commonplace. Today's troubled youth can easily become trapped in a culture that glorifies violence. We must stop or significantly reduce this, and we must start now.”

Perhaps, in Trump's mind, halo doesn't count.

The Trump administration already has some formality in using artificial intelligence imagery to promote the president. In May, Trump posted an AI-generated photo of the pope, sparking backlash from some Catholics. The photo, shared by the White House's official social media account, comes as Catholics mourn the death of Pope Francis and prepare to choose the next pope.

The White House also released artificial intelligence images of Trump as Superman and a Star Wars Jedi. And last month, The Pokémon Company officially responds to Department of Homeland Security's use of Pokémon TV hero Ash Ketchum and the series' theme song As part of the video, people are shown being arrested and handcuffed by law enforcement officers.

We've got more to come about Halo: Campaign Evolved, including Why this is the final nail in the coffin of Xbox exclusivesand Thoughts from some members of Bungie’s original Halo development team.

Photo by Andrew Harnick/Getty Images.

Wesley is IGN News Director. Find him on Twitter: @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or privately at [email protected].