For the second time this summer, singer Ariana Grande has criticized the Trump administration for using her music without permission on social media. This recent incident involved the Team Trump TikTok account featuring Grande’s song “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” in a post that tagged the artist.
The video shared by Trump’s team on Thursday showed the president approaching a podium to speak, with text referencing Grande’s 2024 track. Grande responded in the comments section, demanding that her music not be used again and calling out the inaccuracies in the post.
This clash is not new, as Grande had previously condemned the administration in mid-June for using her song “Bye” in a TikTok video related to immigration policies. She called the content “barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”
Grande’s objections join a chorus of other musicians who have spoken out against the Trump campaign’s use of their music. Artists like Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and estates of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Tom Petty have all expressed disapproval.
Some artists, including Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, have taken swift action to prevent their music from being featured in Team Trump’s social media posts through copyright infringement claims. While campaigns can acquire licenses to play music legally, individual artists have the right to opt out for personal reasons.
The ongoing clash between musicians and political campaigns highlights the importance of respecting artists’ intellectual property rights and creative control over their work.
