Ariana Grande has once again criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for featuring her music in a social media post. This time, the Team Trump account incorporated Grande’s song, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love),” in a TikTok video that tagged the singer. The video showed clips of President Trump approaching a podium with text from Grande’s 2024 hit track, stating, “Me and my truth we sit in silence… men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports.” Grande responded in the comments section, demanding that her music not be used again and calling out the inaccuracies in the post.
This incident follows Grande’s previous objection in mid-June when her song “Bye” was used in a TikTok video related to immigration policy, which she described as “barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”
Grande is among several artists, including Taylor Swift and ABBA, who have voiced their opposition to the Trump campaign using their music. Numerous musicians, such as Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and the estates of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Tom Petty, have also objected to the unauthorized use of their music by Trump’s team.
While political campaigns can obtain licenses to play music legally, individual artists have the right to opt out of having their music associated with specific causes. Some artists, like Swift and Bad Bunny, have taken swift action to remove their music from Team Trump’s social media posts through copyright infringement claims.
The ongoing trend of artists pushing back against the use of their music by political campaigns highlights the importance of respecting artists’ rights and creative control over their work.
