Marty O’Donnell, the former video game composer known for his work on Halo and Destiny, has seen his latest bid for Congress endorsed by Donald Trump.
Writing on X/Twitter last night, O’Donnell said he was “honored” to have Trump’s support, following a social media post by the U.S. president which described the ex-Bungie composer as an “America First Patriot.”
O’Donnell’s renewed bid to enter politics follows a failed attempt at the same Congressional seat back in 2024, which ended with him landing fourth place in its Republican primary. Long known for his conservative views, O’Donnell previously seemed dissatisfied with Trump, who he reportedly labelled as an “idiot” in a Twitter post back in 2016 and said he “loath[ed]” in 2017.
“I appreciate the trust that the President has put in me and look forward to working with him in Congress to continue delivering for working families and keeping our nation safe,” O’Donnell wrote now, confirming that with Trump’s support he would continue his plan to try and unseat Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District Democrat incumbent Susie Lee.
“Marty O’Donnell is a World-Class Composer and Entrepreneur,” Trump declared yesterday. “As your next Congressman, Marty will fight tirelessly to Unleash American Energy DOMINANCE, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Ensure LAW AND ORDER, Strengthen our Brave Military/Veterans, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment.”
“The stakes this midterm could not be higher,” O’Donnell continued. “That’s why when I started running, I promised I would drop out unless President Trump supported me so that Republicans could avoid wasting resources on a needless primary.
Much like President Trump, I didn’t come from the world of politics. I spent my entire career in the business world. I had the honor of working with some incredible people and composing music for some of the greatest video games of all time.”
Collaborating with Michael Salvatori, O’Donnell composed the score of numerous Bungie games, from 1997’s Myth to the classic sounds of Halo: Combat Evolved, in a lengthy tenure that ended with his work for 2014’s Destiny.
2014 also saw O’Donnell fired from Bungie, resulting in a legal tussle over witheld pay. Bungie later initiated its own legal dispute with O’Donnell in 2021, after the composer uploaded unreleased Destiny music to YouTube.
Recent years have seen O’Donnell demonstrate an increasing interest in politics, after a lengthy period spent establishing his own game development studio, Highwire Games, that worked on VR title Golem back in 2019, and controversial shooter Six Days in Fallujah, which launched in early access form in 2023. O’Donnell’s Halo themes will also be heard again later this year with the launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved, which will bring Master Chief’s adventures to Xbox, PC and PlayStation.
Photo by Paul Conrad/WireImage.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
