For the second time this summer, Ariana Grande has criticized the Trump administration for using her music in a social media post. The Team Trump account incorporated her song titled “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” in a TikTok post that tagged the Grammy-winning artist. The post displayed President Trump walking to a podium to speak, with text quoting part of Grande’s popular 2024 track. The caption of the post stated, “This shouldn’t be controversial!” along with hashtags including Grande’s name.
Responding to the post, Grande commented, “Never use my music again. Also, your truth is false.” The sound on the post was later disabled, and Grande’s comment was apparently removed, although screenshots of it were reposted by the audience. This incident follows Grande’s criticism in mid-June when her song “Bye” was used in a TikTok video related to immigration policy, prompting her to express disapproval of its association with the “barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”
Grande’s objection is part of a broader trend where various artists, including Taylor Swift, ABBA, and others, have voiced their disapproval of the Trump team using their music. This practice has led to conflicts with artists such as Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and estates of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Tom Petty. Some artists have taken legal action, including issuing cease and desist orders or filing lawsuits. Artists like Swift and Bad Bunny have swiftly taken steps to remove or mute their music from Team Trump’s social videos due to alleged copyright infringement claims.
While political campaigns can obtain licenses to use music legally, individual artists have the option to exclude their music from such usage. Therefore, artists who have not opted out can still raise objections to their music being used without their consent.
