The White House is packaging the narrative of the war against Iran in a highly entertainment-oriented and social media-oriented way, clearly breaking with the traditional restraint of previous U.S. administrations in wartime communication. The report says that the Trump administration recently released multiple videos in a TikTok-style, mixing missile strike footage with movie, video game, and sports clips. The wording of Defense Secretary Austin at a Pentagon press conference has also become more aggressive. The White House internally refers to this communication strategy as bringing over 3 billion exposures in just four days, far exceeding any previous publicity efforts during Trump's second term, indicating its core goal is first to attract attention and dominate online public opinion. However, this approach has also caused obvious concerns among former defense officials and members of Congress. Critics argue that packaging the war into video game-like content not only lacks the appropriate decorum expected from a president during wartime, but also downplays the seriousness of military operations. Walt, who served as the commander of the Central Command during Trump's first term, stated outrightly that the performance of U.S. military personnel does not need to be "polished" by Hollywood or computer games. This communication controversy also reflects that the Trump White House is increasingly openly replacing institutional etiquette with traffic logic in war narratives.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1860160626690058/
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