President Donald Trump tweeted a Game of Thrones–related image Friday with text that read “Sanctions are coming.”
The president was referring to an announcement that the US will be fully reinstating sanctions against Iran, which comes nearly six months after Trump backed out of the Iran nuclear deal.
According to the White House, these are the “toughest sanctions ever on Iran, targeting many of the corrupt regime’s critical sectors.” The restrictions will be put back in place Monday, as noted in the president’s tweet.
Though Trump’s love of Twitter is well known, people had a lot of feelings about him invoking Game of Thrones to relay his message.
HBO was not pleased.
How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?
Now, if you’ve never seen Game of Thrones, you should know that the statement “Winter Is Coming” is a bad thing.
It refers to White Walkers, a group of undead men, women, children, and animals who are intent on making the world a frigid place.
Oh, yeah, and they pretty much kill everything in their path.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for HBO told BuzzFeed News: “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.”
The network also tweeted, “How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?” a reference to one of the languages spoken in the show.
Some on Twitter were confused about the president seemingly positioning himself as a White Walker.
Trump is casting himself as the White Walkers? https://t.co/r2PeavE1Bu
Writer Dave Itzkoff said, “i’m starting to question whether we are a grown-up, adult country.”
i'm starting to question whether we are a grown-up, adult country https://t.co/vsnJjev3d2
The Full Frontal Twitter account said, “Joffrey grew up.”
Joffrey is a reference to a young king on the show who took pleasure in torturing others.
Joffrey grew up. https://t.co/hpL8fjze0j
Others called the president an “insane demagogue.”
Jesus f*cking christ he's an insane demagogue. And who wants to tell him what it means when "Winter is Coming"? Who wants to tell him what comes from the North? Anyone? https://t.co/SW1unKqvF7
A man named Richard Nephew, who wrote the book The Art of Sanctions: A View from the Field, said he was “responsible” for US sanctions against Iran “for a long while.”
He called the president’s tweet “disgusting.”
“Having to do this is lamentable and will impose very real, human costs,” he wrote. “Take this seriously, please.”
This is frankly disgusting. I was responsible, directly, for U.S. sanctions against Iran for a long while. I took pride in their development, design and use. But not joy. Having to do this is lamentable and will impose very real, human costs. Take this seriously, please. https://t.co/FO1qMVaPYl
One of the many people who blasted the president for this tweet was Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark on the show.
“Not today,” she wrote.
Not today. https://t.co/Jg51mGHPO1
And the Sophie Turner, Williams’ costar, followed that response with a simple “Ew” directed at the president’s tweet.
@realDonaldTrump Ew