The White House ignited a fierce backlash from Taylor Swift’s devoted fan base on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, after posting a TikTok video that used the pop star’s latest chart-topping single “The Fate of Ophelia” to promote President Donald Trump’s administration and the U.S. military.
The 22-second clip, shared on the White House’s official TikTok account, featured the song’s lyric “Keep it one hundred on the land, the sea, the sky” overlaid on footage of different military branches. The video then transitioned to images of Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their respective spouses as Swift’s voice sang “Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes.” A picture of Trump’s mugshot also flashed on-screen, synchronized with the lyric, “don’t care where the hell you been.”
Swift fans, known as Swifties, immediately flooded the comments section with criticism over what they perceived as an unauthorized and inappropriate use of the singer’s music. Many called for Swift to take legal action against the administration, citing precedents set by other artists who have sued over similar unauthorized uses of their work.
The controversy carried particular weight given Trump’s previous hostile relationship with Swift. In September 2024, after the singer endorsed his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris and signed her endorsement post “Childless Cat Lady” in reference to a comment by Vance, Trump posted on Truth Social declaring “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” in all capital letters.
Commenters on the TikTok video immediately seized on this contradiction. One user wrote, “What happened to ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT’?” while others questioned the apparent reversal in the president’s stance toward the musician. Some observers noted the desperation in using music from an artist the administration had previously attacked, with one person posting that MAGA supporters were so eager to seem mainstream that they were using music from a woman they had been publicly criticizing since the 2010s.
The White House offered a combative response to media coverage of the incident. A White House official told Variety, “We made this video because we knew fake news media brands like Variety would breathlessly amplify them. Congrats, you got played.”
Trump’s relationship with Swift has undergone notable shifts over time. The president was once filmed enjoying Swift’s song “Blank Space” in a car, and earlier in 2025, he congratulated Swift on her engagement to NFL player Travis Kelce, calling her “a terrific person.” This marked a stark contrast to his previous animosity and the right-wing conspiracy theories that emerged during the 2024 election cycle, which claimed Swift and Kelce would somehow influence Americans to vote for Democrats.
Swift has not publicly responded to the TikTok video. Meanwhile, “The Fate of Ophelia” continues its dominance on the Billboard charts, marking its fourth consecutive week at the number one position as of the publication of the White House video.
The song is the lead single from Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” which launched on October 3, 2025. The singer initially revealed the album’s existence during an August 2025 appearance on the New Heights podcast, co-hosted by her fiancé Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce. The announcement sent the internet into a frenzy, with even the Empire State Building illuminated in orange to commemorate the moment.
The 12-track album, which features a collaboration with pop star Sabrina Carpenter on the title track, shattered multiple sales records. In the United States, “The Life of a Showgirl” sold approximately 2.7 million copies on its first day in both physical and digital formats. The album also set new benchmarks for vinyl sales, with 1.2 million vinyl copies sold during the first week. The United Kingdom saw similar success, with the album claiming the top spot and establishing new standards for first-week performance in that market.
Swift worked with producers Max Martin and Shellback on the album, collaborators who had contributed to some of her earlier releases. Part of the album was written and recorded during the European leg of her Eras Tour in 2024, connecting the project directly to her touring experiences.
The incident represents the latest flashpoint in the ongoing cultural divide between Swift’s massive fan base and Trump’s political movement. Jenna Piwowarczyk, founder of the group “Swifties for Trump,” previously told Newsweek in May 2025 that she believed positive comments from the president about Swift could lead to more unity between conservatives and young women. However, the unauthorized use of Swift’s music in official White House promotional content has reignited tensions between the administration and the singer’s supporters, who view the move as both hypocritical and potentially illegal.