Just hours after President Donald Trump released a tweet using a font-type similar to Game of Thrones and a riff on its slogan ‘Winter is Coming’ that read “Sanctions are Coming”, HBO has responded with a statement of its own.
EW posted the retort from the network: “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
In the original tweet, Trump shared a picture of himself with text reading “Sanctions are Coming” in the same font used by Game of Thrones, along with the date November 5.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018
The phrase is an obvious reference to the “Winter is Coming” tagline that HBO has used throughout the series to describe the harsh future that is going to descend upon the inhabitants of Westeros. The date on the tweet refers to the day in which the Trump administration will place sanctions against Iran.
In May, Trump backed out of the nuclear deal that his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, had struck with Iran in 2015. He has also accused Tehran of funding terrorist militant groups as well as a charge of destabilizing the region with ballistic missile technology.
Trump issued a previous round of sanctions which affected many of the Iranian core industries, and many experts expect the next round of punishment will take aim at the country’s energy sector, including restrictions on oil and gas exports.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Friday that the administration was set to place all previous sanctions back on the country.
“On November 5th, the United States will reimpose sanctions that were lifted as part of the nuclear deal on Iran’s energy, shipbuilding, shipping, and banking sectors,” Pompeo said.
“These sanctions hit at core areas of Iran’s economy. They’re necessary to spur changes we seek on the part of the regime. In order to maximize the effect of the President’s pressure campaign, we have worked closely with other countries to cut off Iranian oil exports as much as possible.”
According to HBO, the epic fantasy series Game of Thrones will return for its six-episode, eighth and final season in 2019.
David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, David Nutter and Miguel Sapochnik will be the directors for the new season. Writers for the new season are David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman and Dave Hill.
The executive producers of the series are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield. Co-executive producers are Bryan Cogman, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and George R.R. Martin.
