The Trump administration keeps picking fights with pop stars. It’s a no-win situation | Adrian Horton
— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) December 13, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Music by SZA, Jess Glynne, Kenny Loggins, MGMT, Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo has been used in deeply bizarre videos by the US goverment. Most of them have fought back, but Adrian Horton for the Guardian fears the artists are in a no-win situation here.
You can’t win against trolls and that’s what the Trump regime is doing with this, it’s rage-bait, they are openly admtting it:
“We made this video because we knew fake news media brands like Variety would breathlessly amplify them. Congrats, you got played.”
It’s a game for Trump and co
Kaelan Dorr, a member of the White House communications team:
“The arrests will continue. The memes will continue.”
If an artist replies they get stuck in a loop of reactive engagement amplifying the content of the videos
Adrian Horton does think it’s still worth it for artists with a big following to give a firm rebuttal
