Genshin Impact Update 7.0 Takes a Direct Swipe at Trump's Reflecting Pool Fiasco
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
The massive Genshin Impact 7.0 update includes a hilarious in-game parody mocking Donald Trump's botched Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation.
Major open-world RPGs have a long history of slipping sly political commentary past censors, but HoYoverse just delivered one of the most blatant parodies in recent gaming memory. As originally reported by Elijah Gonzalez at Polygon, Genshin Impact patch 7.0 has officially gone live, bringing the final major region of Snezhnaya to players across PC, console, and mobile.
Alongside the massive new zone and usual content drops, eagle-eyed players quickly discovered an in-cheek bulletin board post that mercilessly lampoons Donald Trump and his infamous Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation drama. The in-game message is penned by Grand Duke Diomid Turzov, a character whose dialogue cadence and boasting immediately mirror the former US President. The Duke complains at length about an enormous, beautiful fountain he built, claiming it is the finest in all of Teyvat.
According to the lore in the bulletin, the water was ruined by local jellyfish creatures called Tigalda. To fix the issue, the Duke painted the bottom of the fountain a bright blue, declaring it a historic victory. When the paint attracted even more wildlife, he poured massive amounts of bleach into the water, which predictably caused the paint to bubble and peel off.
Rather than owning up to the disaster, the Duke blames local thugs for sneaking in at night to ruin his work, dismissing the peeling paint as fake news and vowing to hire expensive mercenaries to guard the basin. This mirrors the real-world controversy where the Trump administration spent millions painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue instead of fixing leaking pipes. When the paint inevitably peeled due to botched installation, the administration attempted to pin the damage on an innocent bystander, an arrest that was swiftly thrown out by a judge who noted the damage was entirely self-inflicted.
This is not the first time miHoYo has targeted the politician in-game. A previous update in the Fontaine region featured an in-game book titled The Art of Negotiation, which served as an obvious jab at The Art of the Deal. For a game deeply integrated into modern streaming and social culture, these little developer Easter eggs always spark massive community discussions across TikTok, X, and YouTube, proving that massive live-service hits remain deeply tapped into real-world pop culture.
You can read the original reporting over at Polygon.
Tags: Genshin Impact, HoYoverse, RPG, Gaming News, PC Gaming
Original article: Polygon