The Trump administration on Wednesday dismissed criticism from Bruce Springsteen after the singer released a new song condemning federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.
How Did the Trump Administration Respond to the Song?
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration is focused on encouraging Democratic officials to cooperate with federal agents “removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens,” and called Springsteen’s song “irrelevant” and inaccurate.
Why It Matters
The response came hours after Springsteen dedicated the track, “Streets of Minneapolis,” to Twin Cities residents and the two people killed this month during immigration operations, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. The song marks Springsteen’s latest and most pointed rebuke of President Donald Trump.
“It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” Springsteen said in a statement.
Springsteen has been a longtime critic of the president, and Trump has called the singer “overrated.” Last year, Springsteen said the U.S. “is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.” Trump called Springsteen a “dried out prune of a rocker” in response.
What To Know
The song’s lyrics include, “A city aflame fought fire and ice/’Neath an occupier’s boots/King Trump’s private army from the DHS.”
Springsteen also sings, “Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice/Singing through the bloody mist/We’ll take our stand for this land.”
The song’s lyrics include the names Pretti and Good.
Pretti was identified by family as the man fatally shot by federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on social media that the individual had approached Border Patrol officers on Saturday with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.
In videos of the shooting taken by bystanders, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand. The footage does not appear to show him with a visible weapon. Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed firearm in Minnesota.
The fatal shooting happened just weeks after Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer during a traffic stop in a residential neighborhood in Minneapolis.
DHS said on social media that one of several “violent rioters” attempted to “run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism.” The agency said the ICE officer, “fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.”
State and local leaders disputed the claim that the ICE officer was acting in self-defense.
When Was ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ Released?
The song was released on Wednesday, January 28.
“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” Springsteen said on Instagram.
What People Are Saying
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press: “The Trump Administration is focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities — not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information.”
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Update 1/28/26, 5:44 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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