Ariana Grande has once again criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for featuring her music in a social media post. This time, the Team Trump account shared a TikTok post incorporating Grande’s song “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love),” tagging the Grammy-winning artist.
The post, uploaded by Trump’s team on Thursday, included footage of the president approaching a podium to speak, with text on the video partially quoting from Grande’s popular 2024 track. The text stated, “Me and my truth we sit in silence… men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports.” The caption of the post declared, “This shouldn’t be controversial!” and included various hashtags, including the singer’s name.
In response, Grande commented in the post’s section, stating, “Never use my music again. Also your truth is false.” Subsequently, the sound was removed from the post, and Grande’s comment was apparently deleted, although screenshots of it have been reposted by audience members.
This incident follows Grande’s earlier criticism in mid-June when the administration used her song “Bye” in a TikTok video related to immigration policy, showing federal agents arresting individuals. She had expressed her disapproval in a comment on that video.
Joining a long list of performers who have objected to the Trump team using their music, Grande is currently wrapping up her Eternal Sunshine Tour in London. Over the years, various artists, including Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and the estates of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Tom Petty, have voiced objections to the unauthorized use of their music by Trump’s promotional team and campaigns.
While political campaigns can obtain licensing packages from music-rights organizations to legally play songs, individual artists may choose to opt out for specific reasons. Artists who have not opted out still retain the right to object to the use of their music.
Some artists, such as Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, have swiftly taken action to have their music removed from Team Trump social videos, reportedly citing copyright infringement claims.
The controversy surrounding the use of artists’ music by the Trump administration continues to spark objections and legal actions from various musicians.