Topics: Donald Trump, Music, Politics, Social Media, Taylor Swift, TikTok, Celebrity
The Trump administration has truly kicked the hornet's nest with one of its latest social media posts, leaving Taylor Swift fans outraged at a parody of one of the star's hits.
Furious Swifties have called on the pop icon to 'sue' the Trump administration for its use of her song 'The Fate of Ophelia' in a short but typically bombastic TikTok post in support of the Commander-in-Chief, which features an altered lyric in the caption to read 'The Fate of America'.
"Oh hell no they didn’t do this to Taylor! As a swiftie I am sooo mad and hope she goes for them," one fan said.
Another added: "It’s clear that Taylor lives rent free in Trump’s mind. It’s absolutely romantic."
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The 22-second video uses part of the track's chorus, beginning 'Keep it one hundred on the land, the sea, the sky,' alongside militaristic images of combat troops, battleships, and fighter jets.
This is then followed by pictures of Trump and VP JD Vance ('Your team') and their wives Melania and Usha ('Your vibes'). It ends with a picture of Trump serving fries in McDonald's, with the caption 'The Fate of America'.
Many fans took this as a not-so-subtle jab at the billionaire pop singer, who has previously made her views of Trump clear, backing Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election and rebuking the president for using a fake picture, claiming to show her support for his campaign.
In her endorsement, Swift told her followers to vote for the Democrat candidate, saying: "I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos."
Days later, Trump said he 'hated' Swift and claimed that she would see her record sales slump in the wake of her endorsement, something disproved by her latest album The Life of a Showgirl - which sold millions of copies worldwide in its first week.
Their spat then escalated over this last summer, when the president bizarrely posted about the 35-year-old's appearance on Truth Social, saying: "Has anyone noticed that, since I said 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,' she's no longer 'HOT?"
And yet, there appeared to be some rapprochement between POTUS and America's pop princess in the wake of Swift's engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce in August, with Trump wishing the couple 'a lot of luck,' adding: "He’s a great player, and I think he’s a great guy, and I think that she’s a terrific person."
It is not clear if permissions were sought or granted for the White House to use the track in its video, however, other music stars have previously demanded that the Trump administration remove their songs from their often controversial content.
This includes fellow pop star Olivia Rodrigo and the band MGMT, after their 2018 hit 'Little Dark Age' was used in an ICE recruitment video, despite the group claiming to have written the song after seeing 'evil take over the world'.
A White House official said in a brief statement to Variety: "We made this video because we knew fake news media brands like Variety would breathlessly amplify them. Congrats, you got played."
UNILAD has approached the White House for further comment.
