Katy Perry, Sabrina Carpenter, Celine Dion, and now Noah Kahan are part of a long list of artists who’ve spoken out against The White House’s use of their music.
On Monday, the White House posted pictures and footage of US President Donald Trump on a visit to Michigan’s General Motors testing site. Noah’s song, American Cars, was chosen to accompany the media on both Instagram and TikTok.
In the comments of the Instagram post, fans of Noah flagged the song choice to the artist, telling the account to “never use a Noah Kahan song again” and asking, “And did you ask @noahkahanmusic for permission to play American Cars?”
“Such an amazing song by Noah Kahan now ruined,” a TikToker replied to the video.
Noah himself replied to the Instagram post, saying he “Would never approve of my music being used in support of [Trump] or this administration.”
The music is no longer in use on the Instagram post. It is still on the TikTok as of the time of writing, however – the video’s caption reads, “Nothing like American cars”.
This comes days after Katy Perry expressed similar sentiment following a White House TikTok that used her song Fireworks over clips of military strikes. It was captioned, “Iran has been warned” (Katy’s song has since been removed from the post).
The singer responded 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.
“I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments. To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for.
“My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”
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.
I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and…
In June, Ariana Grande responded to a White House video that played her song Bye over clips of border agents handcuffing people.
The Wicked star responded, “Please do not use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”
For their part, the White House said: “What’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”
The Rolling Stones and Linkin Park, among others, have attempted to take legal action against Trump’s use of their music in the past.
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