\u201cHave you ever tried this one?\u201d pop singer Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>\u2019s voice asks over a video of ICE agents chasing and detaining immigrants that the White House posted on social media on Tuesday, the latest in an apparent campaign to use pop-culture references to promote the Trump Administration\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n Carpenter, however, did not like whatever the White House was trying to do. \u201cthis video is evil and disgusting,\u201d Carpenter replied to the post on X<\/a>. \u201cDo not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The White House has not taken down the video or removed the sound as of Wednesday, but spokesperson Abigail Jackson told TIME in a statement: \u201cHere\u2019s a Short n\u2019 Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter,\u201d making a reference to the singer\u2019s 2024 album. \u201cWe won\u2019t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?\u201d<\/p>\n The White House and other federal agencies and departments during President Donald Trump\u2019s second-term Administration have embraced pop music, memes, and even AI-generated images on official accounts.<\/p>\n \u201cNowhere in the Constitution does it say we can\u2019t post banger memes,\u201d the White House\u2019s X account posted in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Carpenter isn\u2019t the first\u2014and likely won\u2019t be the last\u2014to object to her work being co-opted by politics she disagrees with.<\/p>\n Trump has faced pushback from artists for using their music in his presidential campaigns and even first term, but it has not deterred his Administration from aggressively posting videos with music by pop artists, including some who have publicly spoken out against him.<\/p>\n While legally challenging the use of a song can be costly and difficult<\/a>, many artists have chosen to raise their objections publicly to inform fan bases and listeners of their political stance.<\/p>\n In November, singer Olivia Rodrigo, TIME\u2019s 2021 Entertainer of the Year<\/a>, shot back at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after it used her 2023 song, \u201cAll-American Bitch,\u201d as the backing track for a video urging illegal immigrants to self-deport<\/a>. On Instagram, Rodrigo commented<\/a>, \u201cdon\u2019t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,\u201d to which the DHS responded cheekily with a reference to Rodrigo\u2019s song lyrics: \u201cAmerica is grateful all the time<\/a> for our federal law enforcement officers who keep us safe. We suggest Ms. Rodrigo thank them for their service, not belittle their sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In October, singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins called out<\/a> the \u201cunauthorized use\u201d of his 1986 song, \u201cDanger Zone,\u201d in an AI-generated video<\/a> Trump posted on Truth Social. In the video, Trump flew on a jet emblazoned with \u201cKING TRUMP\u201d while donning a crown and dropping feces over New Yorkers, in apparent response to No Kings Protests<\/a> across the country. The video with the sound remains on Trump\u2019s Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied,\u201d Loggins said in a statement to the media, adding that he was seeking the immediate removal of his song from the video. The White House reportedly responded to questions from NPR<\/a> about the use of the song with a photo of actors Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards from the 1986 film Top Gun and overlayed text reading, \u201cI feel the need for speed.\u201d<\/p>\n The same month, rock band MGMT managed to get taken down a DHS video post<\/a> of federal agents arresting anti-ICE protesters that used the band\u2019s 2017 song \u201cLittle Dark Age\u201d as a backing track, alongside the caption: \u201cEnd of the Dark Age, beginning of the Golden Age.\u201d A Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request was apparently filed, and the video was taken down on X<\/a>, while it remains available on Instagram<\/a> but without sound.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another rock band, Blue \u00d6yster Cult, reacted to Trump’s use of their 1976 hit \u201c(Don\u2019t Fear) The Reaper\u201d in an AI-generated video<\/a> in which Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought was depicted as the Grim Reaper pursuing mass layoffs of federal workers and shutting down \u201cDemocratic\u201d agencies<\/a> during the U.S.\u2019s longest-ever government shutdown<\/a>. In a statement on social media<\/a>, the band clarified that it was \u201cnot contacted or notified in advance\u201d but that the copyright is \u201c100% owned by SONY MUSIC.\u201d The video with the sound remains on Trump\u2019s Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n British pop singer Jess Glynne also had her 2015 bop \u201cHold My Hand,\u201d which became an internet sensation<\/a> this year, used by the White House to promote deportations<\/a> back in July. In a statement to the media<\/a>, Glynne said she felt \u201csick\u201d and \u201cdevastated\u201d that her song was being used to promote \u201cdivision and hate,\u201d explaining: \u201cHold My Hand was written about love, support, and standing by someone through everything \u2013 it\u2019s meant to offer hope and empowerment. Using it to promote something I fundamentally disagree with goes completely against the message of the song.\u201d Jet2, an airline whose use of the song in a holiday advertisement went viral and was what was actually used as the backing sound of the White House video, also expressed disappointment<\/a>, saying the use was \u201cnot endorsed by us in any way\u201d and the company was \u201cvery disappointed to see our brand being used to promote government policy such as this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some artists, however, have largely kept publicly silent about the use of their songs. Notably<\/a>, Taylor Swift, TIME\u2019s 2023 Person of the Year<\/a> who has at other times been hawkish<\/a> about unsanctioned use<\/a> of her music and has called out Trump before for falsely implying her endorsement<\/a>, has not issued any statement after she had her songs from her latest album The Life of a Showgirl<\/a> used in White House materials<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nUnwilling participants in political messaging<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n