Donald Trump’s TikTok Account Goes ‘Red’ After Taylor Swift Music Removal
Look what he made her do.
Donald Trump‘s TikTok account and Taylor Swift are back in the middle of a public back-and-forth after Swift’s music was removed from a Team Trump video. The response from Trump’s account was to take a not-so-subtle jab at the pop star which turned one of Swift’s album titles, and her “Taylor’s Version” movement, into a political prop. The whole exchange has quickly become a talking point across social media.
The Trump account posted an edited clip of Donald and Melania Trump watching fireworks, set to Swift’s 2020 “Folklore” track “august.” The caption read, “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
Users in the U.S. soon found the audio replaced with silence and a familiar message reading, “The copyright owner hasn’t made this sound available in your country.” Swift’s fans in the comments read the removal as a deliberate response from the singer. While it was not confirmed that Swift, who endorsed Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election, instigated the takedown of her music, the Trump account still responded as though she did.
Team Trump Responded With a “Red” Post
Rather than moving on, Trump’s account instead shared a new video. It used a live version of the title track from Swift’s 2012 album “Red,” paired with mocked-up cover art showing Trump in a red MAGA hat and a fake “Red (Donald Trump’s Version)” playlist.
The text over the post claimed that the album holds a strong political meaning. It read, “Did you know Taylor Swift wrote a whole album about the color of the Republican Party.” At the time of writing, the music remains in place on the latest video.
The “august” clip was not the only one hit by a removal. Videos featuring Swift’s tracks “Father Figure” and “Opalite” reportedly lost their audio in the same way, indicating the change was not limited to a single post and was a full sweep of removals across TikTok. Fans across TikTok and X celebrated the removal as a win, with one widely shared comment reading, “TAYLOR REMOVING THE AUDIO. QUEEEEN.” Many read the quiet approach as smarter than a public statement, which would have drawn more attention to the president.
This is not the first time the White House and Trump accounts have been caught up in a similar controversy. The president has repeatedly used tracks from artists who have not endorsed the administration, and several have made public objections. Katy Perry said she was “deeply appalled and angry” after her song “Firework” was used in a military-strikes video, and the administration has clashed with many other celebrities in the last year.
Trump Continues to Clash with Prominent Celebrities
The tension between Trump’s campaigns and musicians stretches back years — he’s used a Swift song in a campaign ad before, despite the public friction between them. Dozens of artists have objected to their music being played at his rallies and in his videos since 2016. In one of the most notable cases, the estate of soul singer Isaac Hayes secured a preliminary injunction in 2024 to stop the campaign from using “Hold On, I’m Coming” at events.
In many cases, copyright is the reason for these disputes. Songs being played in public places or online can be controlled and restricted by artists or whichever company owns the artist’s catalog. Platforms like TikTok often have muted videos that have not complied with the fair use rules or used audio that has not been cleared for use.
Swift, who endorsed Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election, had not publicly commented on the removals as of publication. This is certainly not the first time there has been a sign of tension involving the Grammy-winning singer and Trump, as the president previously hinted at retaliation when he claimed her high-profile wedding to Travis Kelce overshadowed his America 250 celebration event.
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