Taylor Swift makes brutal swipe after Trump uses 'august' in TikTok

Taylor Swift has stripped the audio from a Team Trump TikTok video after the account used her song august without asking, effectively shutting down the campaign's ability to use the track on the platform going forward.

The clip, posted by the official @teamtrump account, came with a sarcastic caption claiming the singer would be 'super excited' the campaign had used her music, alongside hashtags including #taylorswift, #maga and #august.

This isn't the first time Trump's team or the wider White House TikTok presence has used Swift's work without a formal blessing.

Within a short space of time, the sound had been muted, meaning anyone watching the video now sees the footage with no audio at all.

Her track The Fate of Ophelia reportedly soundtracked a White House TikTok post earlier this year, and imagery from her Eras Tour was used in content marking America's 250th birthday.

Neither of those instances resulted in the audio or footage being pulled.

Why can Taylor Swift block songs on TikTok when other artists can't?

The reason Swift can act this fast comes down to ownership. Unlike most major artists, she owns both her masters and her publishing rights, having bought back her back catalogue after a lengthy and very public dispute with her former label. That dual ownership means she doesn't need permission from a record label or publisher to have a video muted or pulled, she can seemingly make the call herself.

Most musicians who object to politicians using their songs at rallies or online run into a wall of red tape, since rights are often split between labels, publishers and other stakeholders, some of whom may already have licensing arrangements with platforms like TikTok. Swift's setup effectively cuts out the middleman.

Has Taylor Swift spoken out about Donald Trump before?

The singer endorsed Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election, and at the time referenced AI-generated images that had circulated showing her appearing to back Trump, which she said played a part in her decision to go public with her endorsement.

There was also the widely-discussed moment where Madison Square Garden's electronic billboards, previously used to mark her engagement to Travis Kelce, were changed to display a message reading 'Trump is your president'.

UNILAD has approached Taylor Swift and The White House for comment.