RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Noah Kahan is the latest artist to lash out at the White House for using his music in a social media propaganda. After President Trump’s visit to a Michigan auto plant this week to tout cars made in America, the administration posted videos and photos on TikTok and Instagram cued to Kahan’s song “American Cars” from his fourth studio album, the Billboard 200 No. 1 LP The Great Divide .
The 29-year-old Vermont-bred singer-songwriter adamantly slammed the unauthorized placement, writing in comments on Instagram (where, at press time, it appeared the sound had been disabled), “Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration.” The comment on Monday’s (July 27) post has more than 21,000 likes so far.
The song, however, is still featured in the accompanying White House TikTok from the event, where it plays as Trump is signing a white Corvette while visiting the General Motors proving grounds in Milford, Mich. Kahan’s frequent cowriter and the co-author of “American Cars,” guitarist Noah Levine, left a more blunt comment on the Instagram post, writing, “You fat f–k this song isn’t for you.” At press time, a number of fans complained that it appeared Levine’s comment had been scrubbed.
At press time, a spokesperson for the White House had not returned Billboard ‘s request for comment.
Kahan joins a very long list of artists who’ve called out the Trump administration for using their music without permission in videos or posts promoting the president’s agenda. Over the weekend, Katy Perry was similarly incensed when the White House used her iconic 2010 hit “Firework” in a TikTok that featured footage of military strikes, writing on X , “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes. I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.” The video synchronized Perry’s “boom, boom, boom” lyrics with black-and-white footage of bombing, with the caption, “Iran has been warned.”
Perry added, “My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”
That followed a similar comment from Ariana Grande in June, when she objected to the White House using a version of her 2024 song “Bye” in a TikTok showing ICE agents arresting and handcuffing people. “ Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. F— ICE,” Grande wrote in a comment that is no longer visible.
Kahan, Perry and Grande join a large roster of acts who have spoken out against Trump using their music in campaign and administration hype videos, a list that includes everyone from Beyoncé and Adele to Celine Dion, Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, Jack White/White Stripes, Kenny Loggins, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, Ozzy Osbourne, Rihanna and many more.
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