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In the last two weeks, the Trump administration has used music from Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, in three posts on social media. The first, shared by the official White House account on TikTok, was a patriotic slide show of images set to lead single The Fate of Ophelia. As Swift sings “pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes”, the video cuts to pictures of the US flag, President Trump, the vice-president, JD Vance, and the first and second ladies. The second and third were posted by Team Trump, the official account for the Trump Campaign. One, set to Father Figure, riffs on the lyric “this empire belongs to me” with the caption “this empire belongs to @President Donald J Trump”, while the other, celebrating Melania Trump winning something called the Patriot of the year award, is soundtracked by Opalite.
The Trump administration has found itself in dicey waters for using popular music in the past. The White Stripes and the estate of Isaac Hayes have both attempted to sue the administration for using their music without permission, while artists including Celine Dion, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Abba and Foo Fighters have released statements demanding Trump stop using their songs at campaign rallies and public appearances. Most recently, Olivia Rodrigo condemned the administration after the official Department of Homeland Security and White House Instagram account used her song All-American Bitch on a video promoting its controversial deportation efforts (the song was later removed by Instagram).
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Swift, however, has said nothing in public. The silence is surprising from an artist known to be litigious over unsanctioned use of her music or likeness: she has previously sued a theme park for playing her music without a licence, come for Etsy sellers for using lyrics from her songs in unofficial merch, taken on YouTube creators over copyright infringement and demanded retroactive songwriting credits from newer artists (including Rodrigo). (Her representatives did not respond to a request for comment.)
That Swift and her team haven’t issued a statement distancing her from a president mired in scandal and an administration criticised for censorship, violent immigration raids and far-right policies, is curious. Once politically shy, she appeared to fully embrace and advocate for progressive values in 2018, so much so that her decision to speak out about politics became the narrative tent pole of her documentary Miss Americana. She has subsequently endorsed Democratic political candidates, supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 American presidential election, and criticised the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. “I need to be on the right side of history,” she said in Miss Americana, apparently defying the advice of team members including her own father.
It is now unclear whether that statement still stands. If it does, Swift seems less interested in telling us so: she hasn’t denounced ICE raids or commented on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
It’s a non-position that chimes with those of other once vocally liberal celebrities who have now clammed up about politics. Jennifer Lawrence recently said she would no longer publicly discuss the president as it would just “add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart”. Instead, “a lot of the movies coming out from my production company are expressions of the political landscape”, she said, “and that’s how I feel like I can be helpful”. Other stars who endorsed Harris alongside Swift in 2024, including Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and Katy Perry, have similarly remained schtum. Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney has refused to engage with the fraught political discourse, even after being revealed as a registered Republican.
Like Lawrence, Swift may believe that publicly opposing the Trump administration would further fracture an already crumbling nation. She may be quietly supporting those whose lives have been affected by the government’s attacks on immigrants and minorities. And there is risk in speaking out: after Swift endorsed Harris, Trump said he “hates” Swift, and as the Jimmy Kimmel fracas demonstrated, the government isn’t afraid to use its heft to silence critics.
Fear of retribution hasn’t muffled other stars, though: both Rodrigo and Billie Eilish have made their feelings about the Trump administration clear, as have artists including Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen.
Of course, Swift has more to lose than most. Despite critical brickbats for The Life of a Showgirl, she has never been more popular, at least commercially. A forthcoming Disney-produced docuseries going behind the scenes of the Eras tour is hotly anticipated. And there are her upcoming nuptials to Travis Kelce. Their relationship has turned them into jingoistic emblems for red-blooded (and red-hatted) Americans: the late conservator commentator Charlie Kirk vociferously approved, while other Maga voices suggested their union would encourage Americans to procreate. It has helped reshape Swift’s image so much that even Trump softened on her: “I think that she’s a terrific person,” he said while congratulating the couple on their engagement.
The president may also see some of himself in Swift, a staunch businesswoman who releases multiple editions of her albums to generate extra revenue and secure high chart positions – seemingly timed to prevent other artists from reaching No 1. It’s telling that Swift’s attention right now appears to be on blocking Spanish star Rosalía from scoring a No 1 album with Lux, by releasing a new streaming-exclusive variant of The Life of a Showgirl. If that is the case, this money-grubbing, competition-destroying approach to pop stardom is paralleled in Trump’s profit-driven mindset, and her self-interest even perhaps has a parallel with his protectionist economic policy.
Swift, as with corporations such as Disney, Meta, Paramount and Walmart, might see kissing the ring as economically advantageous. There is even a whiff of conservatism to the material on Showgirl that feels in step with Trump 2.0: Cancelled! defends those who have faced public backlash, while on Wi$h Li$t she fantasises about a white picket fence lifestyle, a basketball hoop and to “have a couple kids / Got the whole block looking like you.”
It is difficult to forget the young woman of Miss Americana who so passionately rejected the advice of those around her in order to speak up for what she believed was right. Whatever you think about celebrities’ impact on politics, Swift’s platform is so monumental that any public opposition to the Trump administration would be valuable, be it through her art or her actions. It may further fuel what is already a fiery and divisive political climate, but her influence gives her the potential to galvanise thousands in rejecting increasingly regressive and terrifying social and political norms.
But if Showgirl is indicative of Swift’s current preoccupations, she has never been more insular. Vengeful, self-absorbed and lacking imagination, it is the product of an artist who seems disconnected from the anxious state of the world. “I protect the family,” she sings on Father Figure. Once, you knew exactly what that meant. Now, it’s not so clear.
