BS BULLETIN:

• The Trump White House launched an online arcade featuring retro-style games built around administration policies, including a Tetris-style border game called “Build the Wall.”
• The Tetris Company says it did not authorize or license its brand or intellectual property for the game and is now “reviewing the matter.”
• The company also offered a pointed reminder that it takes copyright infringement “very seriously.”

President Donald Trump’s White House has found a new way to promote border security.

Tetris blocks.

The administration unveiled an online arcade Thursday featuring five retro-style games based on Trump’s policies, including one called “Build the Wall,” in which players stack falling blocks to defend the southern border. The game is hosted on the official White House website and carries the description “Zombie Border Siege.”

The resemblance to Tetris was not exactly subtle. And now the people who own Tetris have noticed. The Tetris Company issued a statement Friday making clear it had nothing to do with the White House creation and had not authorized use of its intellectual property. The company said it believes in bringing people together rather than dividing them and added a considerably less philosophical postscript: It takes copyright infringement “very seriously.” The company told the Associated Press that it is now reviewing the matter. No lawsuit has been announced.

“Build the Wall” is one of several games in the White House’s new Arcade. “Rio Run” resembles the classic game Snake and has players patrol the Rio Grande and collect border crossers. “Supply Line” challenges players to sort school lunches according to Make America Healthy Again standards.

There’s also “Flappy Bill,” featuring an eagle carrying legislation across Washington, and “Trump Savings Tycoon,” in which players collect money for children’s Trump Accounts. The White House has made no attempt to hide the political message.

It promoted the arcade with the pitch: “Build the wall. Deport. Fill a Trump Account.” The Tetris dustup also contains one rather delightful bit of irony.

The company noted that the objective of actual Tetris is to keep the blocks from reaching the top — in other words, you’re trying to avoid building a wall. The Trump version turns that objective around. Now you win by building one.

MY QUICK TAKE

I suspect President Trump is not losing sleep over this one. But you have to appreciate where we’ve arrived. The White House built a video game about building the wall, and now the company whose entire business consists of blocks is saying: You can’t use our blocks to build that wall.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Twitchy — Off Their Block: Tetris threatens action over White House “Build the Wall” game
• The White House — Build the Wall
• Associated Press — White House website debuts retro arcade games promoting Trump’s agenda
• Variety — Tetris Company distances itself from White House’s “Build the Wall” game
• People — Tetris responds to White House “Build the Wall” game