Story perspectives

Trump campaign, White House pull Swift songs from TikTok

8/10/2026

Center

Trump Bans Swift

U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and the White House removed Taylor Swift songs from TikTok videos in early August 2026.
A Trump TikTok displayed Swift’s Red album cover altered with Trump in a MAGA hat, captioned “Red (Trump’s Version)”, then removed after a copyright claim.
Artists including Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande asked the administration not to use their songs.
Donald Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” after Swift endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024.

Left

Trump Silences

U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and the White House removed several Taylor Swift songs from TikTok videos in early August 2026.
The removals were framed as an effort to silence the pop star and curb her political influence.
A 3 August TikTok showed Donald Trump and Melania Trump with fireworks set to Swift’s “August.”
Artists including Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and Sabrina Carpenter objected to their songs being used in Trump-related videos.

History

Historical Context

President Donald Trump signed the Music Modernization Act in October 2018, establishing the nonprofit Mechanical Licensing Collective to issue blanket mechanical licences for services such as Spotify. By October 2022 the MLC had distributed almost $700 million in royalties to songwriters. In August 2026 the White House and Trump campaign ordered TikTok to remove tracks by Taylor Swift and others, invoking the Act’s licensing framework for political use.

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Trump Bans Swift

U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and the White House removed Taylor Swift songs from TikTok videos in early August 2026.
A Trump TikTok displayed Swift’s Red album cover altered with Trump in a MAGA hat, captioned “Red (Trump’s Version)”, then removed after a copyright claim.
Artists including Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande asked the administration not to use their songs.
Donald Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” after Swift endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024.

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