When Ariana Grande told the Trump administration in June to stop using her music after the White House posted a video of ICE arrests to her track "Bye," the administration responded in true Trump style: it used another one of her songs in yet another politically charged video. This time, the track in question was Grande's "We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)," attached to a TikTok about transgender athletes. Grande appeared in the comments with an unambiguous comment: "Never use my music again.
Grande isn’t alone in her response to what some might call musical flattery. Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and Katy Perry have all objected to Trump or his administration using their music. Beyoncé’s representatives also intervened when Trump’s 2024 campaign used "Freedom," which happened to be the same song Kamala Harris had made part of her own campaign soundtrack, without pushback from the artist.
So Trump is dealing with a string of unwanted celebrity endorsements…or is he? Upon closer inspection, some might argue that this is less of a problem for Trump than a voluntary format. The president has taken one of the oldest complaints in conservative politics—that Hollywood and popular culture belong to the left—and arrived at a characteristically Trumpian solution: use their supposedly left-leaning stuff anyway.
Better still, from the perspective of the attention economy, the artist may then complain, giving Trump’s decision to use the material a second life. The cycle is easy to follow: fans pile in, the media writes about it, and Trump never quite leaves the news cycle. And there is evidence that, at least sometimes, this is exactly the point.
After a previous controversy over the White House using Swift’s music, an administration official told Variety that the post was made knowing news organizations would amplify the dispute: "Congrats, you got played." To keep the musical theme going, it almost seems as if Trump’s social-media politics has become a kind of punk rock for the right. The fact that the song is forbidden makes it more useful and the artist’s disapproval completes the performance. By now, the Trump playbook is filled with examples, starting with Swift, which offers perhaps the clearest one.
Earlier this month, Team Trump posted a TikTok using Swift’s "August" over footage of the president and first lady Melania Trump watching fireworks alongside the caption: "I’m sure @TaylorSwift is going to be super excited we used her song!" Swift’s fans immediately took to social media to complain, but their comments fueled stories in the media, making their reaction just as central to the discussion as Trump’s choice of music. The audio was eventually removed, a development that was also reported on for days. Carpenter’s example goes a bit further.
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