The Trump administration has sparked controversy with a recent social media post that has left Taylor Swift fans infuriated after it parodied one of the singer’s songs.
Swift’s devoted fan base, commonly known as Swifties, has urged her to consider legal action against the Trump administration. The uproar stems from the use of her song “The Fate of Ophelia” in a TikTok post promoting President Trump. In the post, the song’s title is altered to “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 commented.
Another fan remarked: “It’s clear that Taylor lives rent free in Trump’s mind. It’s absolutely romantic.”
The 22-second video features a section of the song’s chorus, beginning with “Keep it one hundred on the land, the sea, the sky,” set against images of military troops, battleships, and fighter jets.
Following these images, the video transitions to pictures of Trump and Vice President JD Vance, labeled as “Your team,” along with their spouses Melania and Usha, captioned as “Your vibes.” The video concludes with an image of Trump serving fries at McDonald’s, accompanied by the caption “The Fate of America.”
Many fans interpreted the video as a veiled jab at Swift, who has previously expressed her disapproval of Trump and endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election. Swift has also criticized Trump for using a doctored image that falsely suggested her support for his campaign.
In her endorsement, Swift encouraged her followers to vote for the Democratic candidate, stating, “I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Shortly thereafter, Trump expressed his disdain for Swift, alleging her record sales would decline following her endorsement. However, this claim was debunked by the success of her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” which sold millions of copies worldwide in its first week.
The tensions between Swift and Trump escalated further last summer, with the president making a peculiar comment about the singer’s appearance on Truth Social, stating, “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?”
Despite these tensions, there seemed to be a brief moment of reconciliation when Trump congratulated Swift on her engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce in August. He wished 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 remains unclear whether the White House sought or received permission to use Swift’s song in their video. In the past, other artists have demanded that the Trump administration refrain from using their music in its often controversial content.
Artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and the band MGMT have previously requested the removal of their songs from Trump-related videos. MGMT’s 2018 hit “Little Dark Age” was used in an ICE recruitment video, despite the band stating that the song was inspired by witnessing “evil take over the world.”
A White House official issued a brief statement to Variety, saying, “We made this video because we knew fake news media brands like Variety would breathlessly amplify them. Congrats, you got played.”
Further comments from the White House have been sought.