Sabrina Carpenter has spoken out against Donald Trump’s White House for using her song Juno to soundtrack an immigration raid video.
In response to a video posted on the official White House
The White House has repeatedly used popular songs in its social media content, often linked to memes, putting a brighter twist on the tropes that have fueled protests across the country. The latest video includes Juno’s most viral song yet – “Have You Ever Tried It?” Carpenter asks, referring to the sex positions — in several clips of ICE agents chasing, tackling and handcuffing different people, only some of whose faces are blurred.
Earlier this month, the White House used the same formula on Carpenter’s friend and collaborator Taylor Swift. That video used Swift’s recent track The Fate of Ophelia over a montage of several of Trump’s social media posts, which insulted the megastar, who endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Swift has not commented publicly on the president’s use of her music.
The White House continued to invoke Carpenter’s music in a statement on his comments. “Here’s a short and sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: We will not apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be a fool, or is that sleaze?” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, referencing Carpenter’s 2024 album Short N’ Sweet and his recent single Manchild.
Carpenter joins a number of other artists, from Beyoncé to the Foo Fighters, who have condemned the Trump team’s use of their music for promotional purposes, and is the latest to join efforts to clamp down on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Earlier this month, pop singer Olivia Rodrigo condemned the use of her song All-American Bitch by the Department of Homeland Security to soundtrack a video allegedly encouraging undocumented people to leave the US voluntarily. “Never use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” he wrote in a now-deleted post on social media.
A few weeks ago, Kenny Loggins criticized the administration’s use of his song Danger Zone in a widely condemned, AI-generated video that showed Trump throwing human feces at protesters in New York City. In a statement posted on his website, Loggins said he did not authorize the use of the song for the video, which is widely considered to be Trump’s response to the nationwide No Kings protests against his second presidency.
He said, “No one asked me for permission, which I would have declined, and I request that my recording on video be removed immediately.” “I can’t imagine why anyone would want their music to be used or associated with something created for the sole purpose of dividing us. There are too many people trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together.”
Earlier this summer, British singer Jess Glynn was more outspoken when the White House used her 2015 single Hold My Hand — which was re-popularized by the viral Jet2 holiday ad — to soundtrack a video promoting several of her ICE deportations. “Honestly, this post makes me sick,” he wrote on social media.
He later told the Guardian, “I’m very sad to see my song being used in this way.” “Hold My Hand was written about love, support and standing with someone through everything – it’s meant to provide hope and empowerment. Using it to promote something I fundamentally disagree with is completely against the message of the song.” Jet2 also condemned the video, saying “It’s disappointing to see our brand being used to promote this kind of government policy”.
Like the video using Carpenter’s song, the White House posted the Glynn song clip on its official social media channels with the caption: “When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 vacation for deportation. Nothing beats that!”
In the 10 months since Trump took office for a second term, the US president has supercharged the country’s immigration enforcement, authorizing a sweeping system of mass arrests, incarcerations and deportations. Human rights experts have raised concerns over the detention of children with their parents, as well as the arrest of people without charge or due process. Official White House social media posts often celebrate these arrests and the fear they have created in immigrant communities across the country, as Trump claims it is an effort to fight violent crime.
Although Trump has said his administration wants to deport “dangerous criminals”, a Guardian analysis found that the majority of people arrested by ICE have never been convicted of a crime.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced a blanket freeze on asylum adjudications, leaving 1.5 million people seeking residency in legal limbo. As part of the crackdown on his immigration system, Trump has vowed to “permanently halt” immigration from “third world” countries, in response to the shooting death of two National Guard members in DC by a suspected Afghan national.
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