Taylor Swift’s music disappeared from a series of TikTok posts by the Trump campaign on Aug. 7, 2026, triggering a fresh round of hostilities in the ongoing feud between the pop icon and President Donald Trump’s digital operation.
The @TeamTrump account on TikTok, which boasts 14 million followers, saw the audio vanish from several videos featuring Swift’s songs. A clip showing the president and First Lady Melania Trump watching fireworks from a balcony had been set to “August,” a track from Swift’s 2020 “Folklore” album. The video carried overlay text stating, “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president,” along with a caption mocking Swift: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song! #taylorswift #maga #august.”
By August 7, American users attempting to play the clip encountered a notice declaring, “The copyright owner hasn’t made this sound available in your country.” Multiple other Team Trump posts lost their Swift soundtracks as well, including a video posted in November 2025 that used “Father Figure” and another featuring “Opalite,” released by Swift in 2025.
Not all content was affected. A White House TikTok clip from November featuring “The Fate of Ophelia” still retained its audio, as did one Team Trump video using a rendition of “Red.”
Team Trump Keeps Trolling With ‘Red’ and Parody Tracklist
Rather than retreat, the campaign escalated. Following the “August” takedown, @TeamTrump shared a new video using “Red” with the taunt, “Did you know Taylor Swift wrote a whole album about the color of the Republican Party.” The account also posted a fabricated “Red (Donald Trump’s Version)” tracklist, renaming songs to include “Red (Taylor Swift Wrote A Whole Album About Republicans)” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (The Biden Harris Administration).”
Swift’s Fans Celebrate the Copyright Takedown
Swifties swarmed the comments beneath the muted video. Top responses included “TAYLOR REMOVING THE AUDIO QUEEEEEEN,” “TAYLOR QUEEN SWIFT,” and “She removed it, clocked you guys.” The artist herself has offered no public comment.
A Years-Long Feud With Deep Roots
The copyright clash is just the latest chapter in a protracted conflict. Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on Truth Social in September 2024 after Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Instagram. The previous month, he had shared AI-generated images falsely depicting Swift as his supporter, including one fashioned like an Uncle Sam poster. Pressed about potential legal blowback, Trump shrugged it off, saying the images “were all made up by other people.”
In May 2025, Trump revisited the topic unprompted on Truth Social, claiming that because he said he hated Swift, she was “no longer ‘HOT.'” More recently, when Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce became public, Trump told reporters, “Well, I wish them a lot of luck. He’s a great player, and I think he’s a great guy, and I think that she’s a terrific person, so I wished them a lot of luck.” That brief détente evidently didn’t hold.
Using pop hits as soundtracks for partisan messaging has become a signature tactic for the Trump administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid footage and videos promoting military action in Iran have been paired with chart-topping songs from major stars, a practice that seems calculated to provoke backlash and amplify media coverage.
Several musicians have objected forcefully. Katy Perry protested after “Firework” accompanied video of military strikes, saying that seeing her work “weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for.” Ariana Grande condemned the use of her music over videos showing individuals held by federal authorities, writing, in a public statement, “Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. Fck ice.”
Swift has chosen to let copyright enforcement speak for her. The parody tracklist and ongoing use of her catalog by Team Trump signal that the campaign has no plans to back off. Whether additional videos still carrying Swift’s music will be silenced remains uncertain, but the silent copyright strike has resonated powerfully with her fans as the standoff drags on.
