Ariana Grande has once again criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for featuring her music in a TikTok post. The Team Trump account included Grande’s song “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” in a video showing the president walking up to a podium with text that partially quoted lyrics from Grande’s 2024 track. Grande responded in the comments, stating, “Never use my music again. Also your truth is false.”
This incident follows Grande’s previous objection in mid-June when her song “Bye” was used in a TikTok video about immigration policy. The singer condemned the administration’s actions as “barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”
Grande joins a long list of artists, including Taylor Swift, ABBA, and others, who have spoken out against Trump’s team for using their music without permission. Artists like Neil Young, John Fogerty, Queen, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, Beyoncé, and the estates of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Tom Petty have all objected to Trump’s use of their songs.
Some artists, such as Swift and Bad Bunny, have taken legal action to have their music removed from Team Trump’s social videos due to copyright infringement claims. While political campaigns can obtain licenses to use music legally, individual artists have the right to opt out of having their music associated with specific causes or campaigns.