Do you get deja vu? Donald Trump‘s administration has once again been slammed by an artist for using their music without permission, this time receiving a comment from an unhappy Olivia Rodrigo after the White House and Department of Homeland Security shared a video set to one of her songs.
The controversial clip in question was shared in a joint Instagram post on Tuesday. Soundtracked by “All-American Bitch,” the opening track on the pop star’s Billboard 200-topping sophomore album, Guts, the video shows United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers forcibly tackling, detaining and deporting people.
It then cuts to a montage of supposed immigrants voluntarily boarding flights organized by the DHS, smiling and giving thumbs up as they go. “LEAVE NOW and self-deport using the CBP Home app,” the caption reads. “If you don’t, you will face the consequences.”
In the comments, Rodrigo wrote, “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.”
Billboard has reached out to the White House and ICE for comment.
It’s unclear why the government would want to use a song by the three-time Grammy winner. Not only has Rodrigo been vocal in her opposition to Trump, endorsing his opponent Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, but she’s also specifically called out his harsh crackdown on immigration by way of ICE raids this past year.
“I’ve lived in LA my whole life and I’m deeply upset about these violent deportations of my neighbors under the current administration,” she wrote on her Instagram Story in June. “LA simply wouldn’t exist without immigrants. Treating hardworking community members with such little respect, empathy, and due process is awful. I stand with the beautiful, diverse community of Los Angeles and with immigrants all across America. I stand for our right to freedom of speech and freedom to protest.”
That said, Trump’s administration is famous for using music without artist permission at this point. In the past few weeks alone, Kenny Loggins slammed the twice-impeached POTUS for pairing “Danger Zone” with an AI-generated video of himself dumping feces on “No Kings” protestors, and Swifties called out the White House for making a TikTok set to Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia.” (The pop star herself didn’t comment on the issue, but given her long history of clashing with Trump, it’s probably safe to say she didn’t give him the green light.)
