All the Artists Who Don’t Want Donald Trump Using Their Music

Sure, it’s not uncommon for politicians to use popular songs at events and campaign rallies — but lots of artists have drawn the line when it comes to Donald Trump. Since the president began campaigning ahead of the 2016 election, some musicians have not been happy to hear that the Trump team has played their music, often without authorization. From Canadian singer Céline Dion to the family of soul icon Isaac Hayes, they’ve done everything from issuing public statements to sending cease-and-desist letters to Trump through lawyers.

When Trump took office for his second term, he and his administration have been using social media as part of their communication strategy. The propaganda-like, rage-bait-style clips often lean into internet culture and use popular music to make light of Trump’s most egregious actions, like his immigration policy and war-hungry foreign policy. As a result, several artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Katy Perry, and Ariana Grande, have vehemently spoken out against their music being used in these videos without their permission.

Here’s a list of the artists who have told Trump to back off and stop using their songs.

Taylor Swift didn’t publicly comment when Trump’s campaign team and the White House used her songs from her then-new release The Life of a Showgirl on their official TikTok pages in the fall of 2025. However, in August 2026, she joined Bad Bunny in quietly removing “August” from a video captioned with an overt provocation: “I’m sure Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song.” The superstar also seemed to remove the previously used tracks from a handful of videos that the Trump administration had posted. —M.G.

Bad Bunny has long been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration. But when the White House’s official TikTok account posted a tone-deaf, video celebrating deportations set to the Puerto Rican superstar’s “La Mudanza,” Benito quietly removed the audio from that specific video without comment. It was a clever playbook that inspired Taylor Swift to take a similar action days later. —M.G.

Noah Kahan was not happy when the official White House Instagram account posted photos of the president’s July 2026 visit to General Motors’ flagship test site in Michigan and set them to Kahan’s “American Cars.” “Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration,” Kahan wrote in a comment on the post. When reached for comment by RS, a White House spokesperson referred to a tweet by Kaelan Dorr, deputy assistant to the president and White House deputy communications director, that said, “Symptoms of TDS apparently include having a northern attitude,” referencing Kahan’s popular song. —M.G.

Ariana Grande rebuked the Trump administration in June 2026 after the White House used her 2024 song “Bye” in an TikTok video depicting federal ICE agents arresting and handcuffing people. “Please do not ever use my music ⁠in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense,” she wrote in a comment under the post that has since been deleted. At the time, a spokesperson for Grande confirmed to Rolling Stone that the singer, in fact, was behind the comment. In a statement to RS responding ​to Grande, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “We’ll say this one last time: what’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”—M.G.

In June 2026, Katy Perry slammed the Trump administration after the White House’s TikTok account used her hit “Firework” on a video of military strikes. “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the White House TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes,” the singer wrote on X. “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.” —M.G.

Olivia Rodrigo was quick to shut it down when the official Instagram account for the Department of Homeland Security posted a video that used her song “All-American Bitch” against clips of ICE agents detaining undocumented immigrants with the caption “If ICE finds you.” In a since-deleted comment (although it’s unclear if it was removed by Rodrigo or DHS), the musician wrote, “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.” The song does no longer appears on the video. —M.G.

Sabrina Carpenter called out the administration after the White House used her song “Juno” in a social media video featuring ICE agents carrying out arrests. “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the singer wrote on X. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement to Rolling Stone, “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?” —M.G.

Kenny Loggins requested that his song “Danger Zone” be removed from an apparently AI-generated video that showed Trump dumping shit on people participating in the Oct. 18 “No Kings” protests. The clip was ostensibly created by a Trump meme page called @xerias_x, and it was later shared by Trump on Truth Social. In the video, an AI version of Trump, wearing a crown and piloting a military fighter jet emblazoned with “King Trump,” dumps what sure looks like a ton of feces on the protesters.

Loggins called the use of “Danger Zone” in the video “unauthorized,” adding: “Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately.”

The singer-songwriter continued: “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together. We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’ — that’s not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It’s all of us. We’re in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us.” —J.B.

While most complaints have focused on music played at Trump rallies, Beyoncé and her team issued a cease-and-desist letter after a Trump campaign spokesperson used her song “Freedom” in a short video shared online. The clip paired the Lemonade track with a 13-second clip of Trump getting off an airplane — a pretty pointed choice as “Freedom” has become an unofficial anthem of sorts for the Kamala Harris campaign. While Beyoncé did give the Harris campaign permission to use the song, a source close to the musician told Rolling Stone they “absolutely did not give permission” to Trump campaign, and that Bey’s label had threatened to issue a cease and desist. —J.B.

Céline Dion was not happy when Donald Trump used her Titanic classic “My Heart Will Go On” at a recent campaign rally. “And really, THAT song?” she wrote on social media when she learned he’d been playing the hit. The Canadian star’s team issued a statement on Aug. 10 slamming the former president for “unauthorized usage” of the track from the Nineties film. “Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” the statement from Dion’s team said.

The family of James Horner, the song’s composer who died in 2015, also said in a statement that “the Horner family does not endorse or support the Trump/Vance campaign or its use of the song at its events. The campaign does not reflect the beliefs and values of James Horner or his family. It is important to the family that his music not be used by those seeking to profit inappropriately from his work after his death.” —T.M.

The family of late soul singer Isaac Hayes wants to stop Trump from playing the hit “Hold On, I’m Comin’” at rallies and events, including at an NRA convention. Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, shared that they planned to file a lawsuit after learning that the Trump team has used the song about 135 times without licensing the song or asking for permission. “I was pissed,” Hayes told The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s just been a mass shooting. So why are we using it at the NRA convention? I wanted to take legal action because Trump has made statements against women, and here is a man who has been convicted of sexual abuse. I’m a brother to seven sisters, and I don’t want anybody to think of ‘Hold On’ and think of Donald Trump.” —J.L.

Since its release on 2003’s Elephant, the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” has been sung and chanted at countless sporting events around the world. It’s as close as you can get to a universal jock jam like “We Will Rock You” — but that doesn’t mean Jack White is cool with someone like Trump using it. When MAGA campaign flack Margo Martin shared a video of the candidate boarding a plane to that iconic riff, White snapped back. “Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” he wrote.  “Lawsuit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others).” We assume that applies to the pretty dang awesome new album he released this summer, too. —S.V.L.