For years, Donald Trump and his team has been engaging in a particular form of digital provocation: using the biggest hits by major pop stars as background music for propaganda videos posted to TikTok and other social media platforms. From posts detailing ICE raids to those that boost the war in Iran, the strategy seems designed to provoke direct conflict with artists—who often oppose the president’s policies—in order to amplify their media impact. However, this tactic has just run up against the copyright empire of the most powerful singer on the planet: Taylor Swift, who has apparently managed to completely silence multiple posts from the White House and the Republican campaign that went up the past week.
Several videos shared on the president’s official TikTok account no longer have any audio, though when first posted Swift’s work was the soundtrack. Among the affected posts was a video released in early August showing Donald and Melania Trump watching fireworks to the tune of “August,” a track from her acclaimed album Folklore. Included is a sarcastic caption: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song! #taylorswift #maga #august.”
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It would make for one hell of a mixtape.
Another piece of content, which has since gone silent, parodied the cover of her hit album Red, “Did you know Taylor Swift wrote a whole album about the color of the Republican party?” the post was captioned, renaming the record “the Donald Trump version” and suggesting parody track titles that reflect issues dear to the GOP.
Taylor Swift’s fans were quick to react to the change on social media, applauding whatever maneuvers Swift engaged in to curtail the use of her work. Swift has not publicly commented on the silenced videos, and her representatives have yet to respond to Vanity Fair‘s request for comment. But it’s well-known that the newlywed publicly endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 election and harshly criticized Trump in 2019, saying then that he is guilty of “gaslighting the American public into being like, ‘If you hate the president, you hate America.’”
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President Trump’s view of the war is reportedly informed by a daily diet of short-form bombing videos—and by rosy Fox News coverage. No wonder he thinks the war is won. Meanwhile, his Defense Secretary seems to view violence as its own end.
The tension appears to go both ways. Following Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, Trump went so far as to post a blunt “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on his Truth Social platform, and later said that after his remarks about the singer, she is “no longer ‘HOT.’” Despite a subsequent attempt to soften his tone by wishing her luck after her engagement to athlete Travis Kelce, his continued use of her songs suggested the confrontation wasn’t over.
Swift hasn’t been the only star to speak out against Trump’s use of their music. Katy Perry was outraged after her song “Firework” was used over footage of military bombings, writing “To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for.” Similarly, Ariana Grande wrote “Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. Fck ice,” after the administration used her song “Bye” as the soundtrack for a montage of people detained by DHS agents. But though she is refraining from comment, Taylor Swift’s effective silencing of the noise coming from Donald Trump’s camp might be the music world’s loudest statement against the president yet.
