The White House’s use of Noah Kahan’s song American Cars in social media posts has sparked another dispute between the Trump administration and a prominent musician. Kahan publicly rejected the use of his music after the White House shared videos from President Donald Trump’s visit to General Motors’ flagship test site in Michigan featuring the track.
The singer is the latest artist to object to the administration using their songs in official content.
The White House post featured Trump touring General Motors’ proving grounds in Michigan. American Cars was used as the soundtrack on both Instagram and TikTok. While the audio later appeared unavailable on Instagram, it remained on TikTok at the time of reporting.
Artists who have slammed the Trump administration for using their songs
Noah Kahan and co-writer respond
Kahan responded after fans tagged him beneath the White House’s Instagram upload. “Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration,” he wrote in the comments.
{{/usCountry}}Kahan responded after fans tagged him beneath the White House’s Instagram upload. “Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration,” he wrote in the comments.
{{/usCountry}}The criticism extended beyond Kahan himself.
Noah Levine, who co-wrote American Cars, also commented beneath the White House's Instagram post. His response was direct, writing, “You fat f*** this song isn’t for you.”
Katy Perry
Katy Perry objected after the White House used her 2010 hit Firework in a TikTok video featuring footage of military strikes.
She wrote on X that she was “deeply appalled and angry” and said she neither approved nor condoned the use of the song.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande also criticized the administration in June after the White House used a version of her 2024 song Bye in a TikTok post showing ICE agents making arrests. Grande shared her disapproval on social media after the clip gained attention.
She commented, “Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. F*** ICE.”
Also read: Ariana Grande tells White House not to use her music for ‘barbaric’ activities
Sabrina Carpenter
Last year, Sabrina Carpenter hit outat the White House after her song was featured in a deportation video by the Trump administration account.
White House released another video on X to further its goal of deporting illegal immigrants in the United States using the song "Juno" from Carpenter's album "Short n' Sweet" was used in this video.
Carpenter replied to the White House post that she was not asked for permission to use her song. "This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda," she wrote.
Olivia Rodrigo
A video that was shared on the White House official Instagram pages urged undocumented immigrants to leave the country willingly. A portion of Olivia Rodrigo's song "All-American Bitch" served as the soundtrack for the video.
“Don't ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” Rodrigo reportedly said in a comment on the post, denouncing the usage of her music. The comment was later removed; however, screenshots were collected and extensively shared.
The Rolling Stones
During Trump's election campaign in 2020, The Rolling Stones threatened to sue Trump if he continued to play their songs at his campaign events.
The Trump campaign used the song You Can't Always Get What You Want in a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
During the 2016 US election, the Trump campaign played the same song. In 2016, the Rolling Stones declared, “The Rolling Stones do not endorse Donald Trump.”