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Japanese manga fans urge Trump to stop using characters in his online posts

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 483 words · By Gavin Blair
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What to know about Japanese manga fans urge Trump to stop using characters in his online posts

Japanese anime and manga fans are urging Donald Trump to stop using their favourite characters in his social media posts.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left14%
Center72%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Japanese anime and manga fans are urging Donald Trump to stop using their favourite characters in his social media posts.

Why it matters

About 20,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org entitled Protect Japanese Manga, protesting against the official White House X account posting videos featuring unauthorised use of imagery from the popular Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh!

Common ground

Angry fans have also been posting on social media.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/10/japanese-manga-anime-fans-urge-tru…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 1
schedule Pending 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
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Claim 1: “The official Yu-Gi-Oh! account on X issued a statement at the time, saying: “The original creators and anime staff were not involved in any way, and no permission was given for the use of the intellectual property in question.””
CORROBORATED
Three separate web search results report that the Yu-Gi-Oh! company issued statements denying permission for the use of their intellectual property by the White House.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Yu-Gi-Oh! manga is written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1996 to 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Muto…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yu-Gi-Oh!_chapters
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Yu-Gi-Oh! series, created by Kazuki Takahashi, features an extensive cast of characters, many of whom are from Domino City, a fictional city in Japan where the series takes place. As many plot ele…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yu-Gi-Oh!_characters
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses is a video game developed by Konami based on the manga series Yu-Gi-Oh!. The game was released on September 6, 2001, in Japan, and worldwide throughout 2003. The st…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Duelists_of_the_…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 2: “The manga about a young boy training to become a ninja has sold more than 250m copies worldwide”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to verify the specific sales figure of 250 million copies.
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Claim 3: “Shueisha, which celebrates its centenary this year, is Japan’s biggest publisher”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web search results (including The Japan Times) confirm that Shueisha is a top/record-breaking publisher and is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 26, 2026 ... Japan's record-breaking manga publisher Shueisha marks 100 years in the ... Shueisha is one of the major Japanese manga publishers and its ...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/05/26/books/shueis…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 ... ... Japan's top-selling and record-setting manga magazine, turns 100 this year. While the centenary celebration demonstrates how far the company ...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DY6-stKDkUf/
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... This year, as Shueisha celebrates its 100th anniversary, the publisher has launched a special website, "SHUEISHA MANGA EXPO," featuring a ...
https://www.toy-people.com/en/?p=110920
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Claim 4: “About 20,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org entitled Protect Japanese Manga”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results (NewsBytes and another news source) confirm that approximately 20,000 people signed a Change.org petition titled 'Protect Japanese Manga'.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Berserk (Japanese: ベルセルク, Hepburn: Beruseruku) is a Japanese manga series created by Kentaro Miura. Set in a medieval Europe–inspired dark fantasy world, the story centers on the swordsman Guts and Gr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — MangaDex is a not-for-profit website that aggregates translations of manga, manhwa, and manhua. Content on the website is usually unofficial, uploaded by "scanlation" groups, but links to official ser…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MangaDex
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Metamorphosis (変身, Henshin) — originally subtitled Emergence — is a hentai manga written and illustrated by American-Japanese mangaka Shindo L. It was originally published between 2013 and 2016 throug…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis_(manga)
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 5: “serialised the original Naruto manga from 1999 to 2014”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence confirms Shueisha is a publisher and that Naruto is a manga, but the specific serialization dates (1999-2014) are not explicitly mentioned in the provided snippets.
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web search NEUTRAL — Shueisha Original (集英社オリジナル, Shūeisha Orijinaru) is a multi-demographic manga magazine published by Shueisha. It features an individual kanzenban of a classic Shueisha manga series.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shueisha
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web search NEUTRAL — List of works published by Shueisha List of works published by Shueisha, including manga, light novels, etc., listed by release date.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_published_by_Shu…
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web search NEUTRAL — Company Information Shueisha In Japanese, our name means “gathering of intellect,” and we at Shueisha Inc. convey useful information, profound knowledge, and great entertainment to millions each day t…
https://www.shueisha.co.jp/en/
schedule
Claim 6: “A spokesperson for Shueisha said the copyright for the anime images used in Trump’s post was held by the film production committee”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 7: “Kishimoto, whose twin brother, Seishi, is also a manga artist, oversaw the production of three hit Naruto anime films”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Masashi Kishimoto's twin brother Seishi or the specific number of films he oversaw.
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Claim 8: “the official White House X account posting videos featuring unauthorised use of imagery from the popular Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto series”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results report that the official White House X account used imagery from Naruto and other series, leading to a petition and backlash in Japan.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dragon Ball (Japanese: ドラゴンボール, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. Originally serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jum…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_(manga)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dragon Ball Daima (Japanese: ドラゴンボールDAIMA, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Daima), stylized as Dragon Ball DAIMA, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is the sixth televised anim…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Daima
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The franchise features an ensemble cast of characters and takes place in the same fictional universe as Toriyama's other wo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragon_Ball_characters
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 9: “the White House posted a video that combined footage of US strikes on Iran with anime scenes”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (al.com and 'The Power Of Anime') explicitly state that the White House posted videos combining footage of US strikes on Iran with anime or video game scenes.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On June 22, 2025, the United States Air Force and Navy attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran as part of the Twelve-Day War, under the code name Operation Midnight Hammer. The Fordow Uranium Enrich…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_strikes_on_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In 2025 and 2026, Iran and the United States began a series of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement, following a letter from US president Donald Trump to Iranian supreme leader Ali…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–2026_Iran–United_States_n…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This timeline of the 2026 Iran war covers the period since 28 February 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2026_Iran_war
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 10: “an image posted on Truth Social over the weekend depicting Trump as the ninja Naruto Uzumaki from the Naruto franchise”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm that Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video/image of himself as Naruto on Truth Social.
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web search NEUTRAL — Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video that featured him dressed as Naruto. It’s not the first time he has used AI-generated content to boost his image.
https://theprint.in/feature/japanese-manga-fans-donald-trump…
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web search NEUTRAL — Our site archives all of Donald Trump's TRUTH Social posts, providing a searchable index of his statements, video transcripts, and image descriptions.
https://trumpstruth.org/
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web search NEUTRAL — Truth Social is America's "Big Tent" social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating on the basis of political ideology.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump
verified
Claim 11: “the ministry of foreign affairs made a request to the US embassy in Japan regarding the unauthorised use of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Nintendo games on the official White House X account”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While the evidence confirms the general controversy and the existence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no specific source in the provided evidence confirms a formal request made to the US embassy regarding Yu-Gi-Oh! and Nintendo games.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_foreign_affairs
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China (MFA; Chinese: 中华人民共和国外交部; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Wàijiāobù) is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_(C…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japanese: 外務省, Hepburn: Gaimu-shō) is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relatio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_(J…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.