Taylor Swift faces backlash after staying silent about the White House using her song in a TikTok video featuring Donald Trump.
Taylor Swift is under fire online after the White House used her song The Fate of Ophelia in a TikTok slideshow featuring President Donald Trump — and the pop icon has yet to speak out.
The November 2 TikTok post remains live, even as fans flood the comments tagging Swift and urging her to address the unauthorized use.
Swift, known for being highly protective of her music rights, has surprised many with her silence. Critics point out that she has historically taken swift legal action to defend her work, making the lack of response especially unusual — especially since the TikTok video altered her lyric “the fate of Ophelia” to “the fate of America.”
Music critic Anthony Fantano inflamed the conversation with an article titled “Taylor Swift is a Coward,” arguing that the song is being used alongside “propagandist images” and suggesting that Swift’s quietness contradicts her activist reputation.
@whitehouse OUR VIBES 🇺🇸
♬ original sound – The White House
He also notes that her stance is especially surprising given her public endorsement of Kamala Harris during the 2024 election and her past objections to AI-generated images shared by Trump supporters.
Fans have compared Swift’s silence to how other pop stars quickly react when their music is used politically. Olivia Rodrigo recently commented on a Department of Homeland Security post using her song all-american b****, writing, “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” which resulted in the audio being removed.
Artists like Beyoncé and Neil Young have also taken legal action when their music appeared in political content without permission.
On Reddit, the backlash is growing, with fans calling Swift’s silence “cowardly” and pointing out that she set her own standard by branding herself as socially outspoken. Many argue they’re not asking her to “take down Trump,” only to clarify she doesn’t support the song’s use.
For now, Swift has not commented — and fans are waiting to see whether she breaks her silence.
