Ariana Grande has once again criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for featuring 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 video that tagged the Grammy-winning artist.
The post, uploaded on Thursday, showcased clips of the president approaching a podium to speak, with text from Grande’s 2024 hit overlaid on the video. The caption of the post stated, “This shouldn’t be controversial!” along with various hashtags, including Grande’s name.
In response, Ariana Grande commented, “Never use my music again. Also your truth is false.” The sound has been removed from the post, and Grande’s comment appears to have been deleted, although screenshots of it have been reposted by viewers.
This incident follows Grande’s previous criticism in mid-June of the administration using her song “Bye” in a TikTok video about immigration policy. In that instance, she expressed her disapproval of associating her music with what she described as “barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”
Ariana Grande joins a long list of artists, including Taylor Swift and ABBA, who have objected to the Trump team’s use of their music. Various performers, such as Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and the estates of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Tom Petty, have also voiced opposition to the administration’s use of their songs.
While political campaigns can obtain licensing packages to legally use music, individual artists have the right to opt out for personal reasons. Some artists, like Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, have taken swift action to have their music removed or muted from Team Trump social media posts, often citing copyright infringement claims.