Summary:
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From cease and desist letters to federal lawsuits, musicians have been battling the Trump administration over unauthorized music use.
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The roster continues to grow, videos remain online, and the White House shows no signs of halting.
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Here is a list of artists who pushed back and what unfolded when they did.
From cease and desist letters to federal lawsuits to telling the government to “go f*ck yourselves,” musicians have been fighting the Trump administration over unauthorized use of their music for years.
The roster keeps growing, the videos mostly stay up, and the White House has made it clear it does not plan to stop.
Here is every artist who pushed back and exactly what happened when they did.
1. Kesha “Blow” (2026)
In February 2026, the White House posted a TikTok captioned “Lethality” showing a fighter jet firing a missile at a naval ship set to Kesha’s 2010 hit “Blow.” The video racked up 14.5 million views and 1.8 million likes. Kesha called it “disgusting and inhumane” and told the White House to “stop using my music, perverts.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung fired back, claiming artist outrage only drives more views. Kesha’s original post surpassed 1 million views. Cheung’s response earned just over 26,000. The video remains up.
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2. Radiohead “Let Down” (2026)
ICE used a choral version of Radiohead’s “Let Down” in a social media video featuring victims of alleged illegal immigrant violence, also posted by DHS, the White House, and Trump’s personal account. Radiohead issued a statement demanding removal and closing with “Also, go f*ck yourselves.”
DHS did not directly answer whether the video would be removed, redirecting instead to commentary about victims of violent crime. The video remains up.
3. Olivia Rodrigo “All-American Bitch” (2025)
The White House paired a video of ICE agents forcibly tackling and detaining people with Rodrigo’s “All-American Bitch.” Rodrigo responded: “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.” The video stayed live but the audio was stripped, replaced by an error message reading
“This song is currently unavailable.” A DHS spokesperson suggested Rodrigo should thank law enforcement for their service instead.
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4. Sabrina Carpenter “Juno” (2025)
The White House posted a video of ICE arrests set to Carpenter’s “Juno,” with the lyric “Have you ever tried this one?” playing over footage of people being handcuffed and detained. Carpenter called it “evil and disgusting.” The White House responded through spokesperson Abigail Jackson: “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles.” The video was subsequently deleted.
5. SZA “Big Boy” (2025)
The White House used SZA’s “Big Boys” in an immigration video, making a pun out of the lyric “It’s cuffing season” over footage of people being placed in handcuffs. SZA called it a “lose-lose” situation for artists and described the video as “boring.” The White House did not respond. The video stayed up.
6. Isaac Hayes Estate “Hold On, I’m Coming” (2022–2026)
The Hayes estate sued Trump, his campaign, the RNC, the NRA, and Turning Point USA for copyright infringement after the song was used repeatedly at political events without authorization. In September 2024, a court issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump campaign from playing it at future rallies. In February 2026, the estate announced a financial settlement.
Terms were not disclosed, but the estate said the resolution “reaffirms the importance of protecting intellectual property rights and copyrights.” It remains the only case in this saga to result in both a court injunction and a financial settlement.
7. Celine Dion “My Heart Will Go On” (2024)
After Trump played “My Heart Will Go On” at a rally in Montana, Dion’s team publicly called the use unauthorized and added: “And really, THAT song?” No legal action followed. The statement stood on its own.
8. Beyoncé “Freedom” (2024)
After a Trump campaign spokesperson posted a video using “Freedom,” Beyoncé’s record label and music publisher sent a cease and desist letter the following day. The song was removed from the video, making it one of the faster resolutions on this list.
9. The Rolling Stones Multiple Songs (2016–2020)
The Rolling Stones called out Trump in 2016 and again in 2020 for using their music without permission, threatening legal action and repeatedly asking the campaign to stop. Trump kept playing their music anyway.
10. Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler “Dream On” and “Living on the Edge” (2015–2018)
Tyler sent Trump cease and desist letters twice, once in 2015 over “Dream On” and again in 2018 over “Living on the Edge.” His lawyers noted in the second letter that the violation was “even more egregious” given that Trump had already been shut down once before. Trump eventually complied, though it took two attempts to get there.
Why Doesn’t Any of This Stop It?
Due to how music licenses are governed on social media platforms, artists have little legal recourse to force the removal of content that uses their songs on TikTok, Instagram, and X.
Platforms pay blanket licensing fees to music rights organizations, which technically gives government accounts access to enormous song libraries regardless of how the artist feels about it.
