WASHINGTON — Taylor Swift’s music has been removed from a number of social media posts published by U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and the White House, after her songs had appeared in videos promoting Trump and his administration, according to reports and observations of the affected posts.
Several TikTok videos that previously featured Swift’s songs now appear without their original audio. One Team Trump video posted earlier this month showed Trump and first lady Melania Trump watching fireworks while Swift’s 2020 song “August” played in the background. The accompanying caption explicitly tagged Swift and said she would be “super excited” about the use of her song. The audio is no longer available, with TikTok displaying a notice that the copyright owner has not made the sound available in the relevant country.
Another Team Trump video using Swift’s “Father Figure” was also muted. That post featured Trump and his youngest son, Barron, alongside references to the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump and lyrics from the song.
Other Swift tracks have reportedly disappeared from Trump- and White House-affiliated posts in recent days. The removals have been attributed by the platform to copyright restrictions, but neither Swift nor her representatives has publicly confirmed that she or her team specifically ordered the removals. Entertainment Weekly reported that requests for comment had been sent to representatives for Swift and the White House.
The development follows repeated use of popular artists’ music by Trump’s political operation and White House social media accounts. Some musicians have publicly objected to the practice. In June, singer Ariana Grande criticized the White House after it used her song “bye” in a video promoting immigration enforcement. Her team subsequently had the audio removed from the platform.
Swift has previously opposed Trump politically. During the 2024 presidential campaign, she endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent, after warning about the use of artificial intelligence to create images falsely portraying her as a Trump supporter. Trump later criticized Swift over her political stance.
Swift has not publicly commented on the recent removal of her music from Trump-related posts. The affected videos remain online in some cases, but without the Swift recordings.
