Ariana Grande has once again criticized the Trump administration for using her music in a social media post. This time, the Team Trump account featured her song “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” in a TikTok video that tagged the Grammy-winning artist. The video showed President Trump walking up to a podium with text quoting part of Grande’s 2024 hit track. In response, Grande commented on the post, demanding that her music not be used again and refuting the administration’s message.
This incident follows Grande’s previous objection in mid-June when her song “Bye” was used in a TikTok video related to immigration policy. She strongly denounced the use of her music in connection with what she called “barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”
Joining a long list of artists who have spoken out against the Trump team for using their music, Grande adds her voice to performers like Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and others who have objected to the unauthorized use of their songs. Some artists, including Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, have taken legal action to have their music removed from Team Trump’s social videos.
While political campaigns can obtain licenses to use music legally, individual artists have the right to opt out of having their music included for various reasons. Artists who have not opted out can still voice their objections to the use of their music.