Ariana Grande rebukes White House for using her music in 'barbaric, inhumane' ICE video

Ariana Grande has rebuked Donald Trump's White House for using her music in a video documenting the detaining of immigrants. Earlier this week, the White House posted a montage of ICE agents handcuffing and detaining people, with the caption "Bye-bye 👋 President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history." It was soundtracked by Grande's 2024 song "Bye." Grande commented on the post: "Please do not use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense." The music has since been removed.

Grande is the latest in a long line of artists who have condemned the White House for using their music, often paired with ICE-related or pro-Trump content on social media. Sabrina Carpenter called a video that used her music "evil and disgusting … do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda." When the White House used Jess Glynne's song "Hold My Hand" after it became a popular meme format, Glynne said she felt "sick" and added that her music was "never about division or hate."

In October 2025, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself flying a fighter jet and pouring brown effluent over protesters from the anti-Trump No Kings movement, to a soundtrack of Kenny Loggins' Top Gun hit "Danger Zone." Loggins asked for its removal and said: "I can't imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us."

These, along with the Grande incident and many others, are a calculated ploy by the White House to enrage often left-leaning musicians: a campaign of trolling by an administration alive to the soft power of social media. When asked by Variety for comment about its use of music by Taylor Swift in a November 2025 video, the White House replied: "We made this video because we knew fake news media brands like Variety would breathlessly amplify them. Congrats, you got played."

Chart-topping R&B star SZA, whose music was also used by the White House against her wishes, highlighted the practice, writing: "White House rage baiting artists for free promo is PEAK DARK ..inhumanity +shock and aw tactics ..Evil n Boring."

Grande is meanwhile preparing the release of her eighth studio album, "Petal," on 31 July. Its lead single "Hate That I Made You Love Me" is currently the most-streamed song daily on Spotify globally, and shot straight to the top of the charts in the UK and US in its opening week.