Ariana Grande has once again criticized the Trump administration for using her music in a social media post. This time, the Team Trump account included her song “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” in a TikTok post that tagged the Grammy-winning artist. The post featured clips of President Trump approaching a podium to speak, with text quoting from Grande’s 2024 hit track. Grande responded in the comments, demanding that her music not be used and calling the administration’s “truth” false.
This incident follows Grande’s previous objection in mid-June when her song “Bye” was used in a TikTok video about immigration policy. Various artists, including Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and others, have also objected to the Trump team using their music at rallies or in social media posts. Some artists have taken legal action, while others have swiftly had their music removed from Team Trump’s social videos through copyright infringement claims.
Despite the option for political campaigns to obtain licenses to use music legally, individual artists can choose to opt out for various reasons. This ongoing issue highlights the tension between artists and political campaigns over the unauthorized use of music.
