HBO slams Trump's Game of Thrones tweet about the Mueller report Game of Thrones Close this dialog window Streaming Options HBO is once again asking the president to stop trying to siphon off the success of Game of Thrones. The network put out a statement condemning Donald Trump’s tweet that plays off the hugely popular fantasy hit in an attempt to frame the conclusions of Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. “Though we can understand the enthusiasm for Game of Thrones now that the final season has arrived, we still prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes,” HBO said. On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted an image of himself, back turned, with text reading “No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left Democrats— Game Over.” The tweet uses a font used by GoT along with “Game” to riff on the show’s branding. According to CNN, Mueller’s report found that — regarding the accusation that Trump’s team colluded with Russia — “members of the Trump campaign knew they would benefit from Russia’s illegal actions to influence the election, but didn’t take criminal steps to help.” As to whether Trump obstructed justice, the report “was unable to determine ‘that no criminal conduct occurred. '” The report added that Congress can continue to investigate Trump. Last November, the president did another Thrones-inspired tweet to announce “Sanctions Are Coming” to Iran. To which HBO responded at the time: “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.” Also, during the government shutdown in January over border wall funding, Trump tweeted an Instagram image that announced “The Wall is coming.” Fans were quick to point out the many ways that Game of Thrones is a great example of why border walls do not work. Previously, A Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin said Trump reminds him of the tale’s sadistic teen villain Joffrey Baratheon. “I think Joffrey is now the king in America,” Martin said in 2017. “And he’s grown up just as petulant and irrational as he was when he was 13 in the books.” While star Kit Harington (Jon Snow) has slammed Trump by saying: “I believe in experts … Mr. Donald Trump — I wouldn’t call him ‘President,’ I’ll call him ‘Mister.’ I think this man at the head of your country is a con artist.” EW was on the GoT set on Election Day in 2016, and one of the show’s writers at the time objected to the popular Joffrey comparison. “People keep writing that his election is ‘just like Game of Thrones.’ F— you. Even Joffrey spoke in articulate sentences. I prefer Westeros, where politics makes sense.” Exclusive Game of Thrones episode 1 “Winterfell” coverage:<doc-sep>Screenshot/CNET Following Thursday's press conference where US Attorney General William Barr addressed the release of the Mueller report, President Donald Trump took to Twitter once again with a Game of Thrones-themed response. The tweet's image shows Trump standing in some type of fog, with the Game of Thrones typeface reading "No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left Democrats -- game over." "Though we can understand the enthusiasm for Game of Thrones now that the final season has arrived, we still prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes," an HBO spokesperson said in a statement. This isn't the first time Trump has played on Game of Thrones on Twitter. In November, he tweeted an image of himself with the text "Sanctions are coming," a reference to the show's popular catchphrase "Winter is coming." At the time, HBO said in a statement, "We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes." The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.<doc-sep>
HBO is firing back at President Donald Trump after he sent another “Game of Thrones”-inspired tweet in response to the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation. “Though we can understand the enthusiasm for ‘Game of Thrones’ now that the final season has arrived, we still prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes,” an HBO spokesman said in a statement. Trump tweeted a “Game of Thrones”-influenced image on Thursday morning using the show’s signature font (Trajan Pro, to be exact) that included the tagline, “No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left Democrats — Game Over.” This came as attorney general William Barr delivered a press conference stressing that Mueller did not find evidence of illegal collusion. The cabler responded in similar fashion in November when Trump tweeted a photo that played on a “Game of Thrones” catchphrase using the same serif typeface. “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes,” HBO said in a statement last year when Trump tweeted “Sanctions Are Coming” — a play on “Winter Is Coming” from “Game of Thrones.” “We didn’t want to pick a fight with the president,” HBO’s exec VP and head of marketing Chris Spadaccini said during Variety’s Entertainment Marketing Summit in March. “I gave my social team a lot credit because they had a very snarky little subtweet that said, ‘How do you say trademark infringement in Dothraki?’ And that got a lot of press coverage.” In the past, musicians such as Neil Young, Elton John, R.E.M., and the Rolling Stones have expressed disdain for Trump’s use of their music during his campaign trail and rallies.