Donald Trump escalates feud with Bruce Springsteen, calls for investigation
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his feud with Bruce Springsteen over the long weekend, calling for a 'major investigation' into the rock legend after Springsteen branded the Trump administration as 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous' during a concert in England last week.
Early Monday, as Trump was preparing to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he took to Truth Social to post a lengthy, all-caps screed against Springsteen and other Hollywood A-listers who endorsed Kamala Harris during last year's presidential election.
'HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT?' Trump wrote online, in a message published in the middle of the night. 'WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN'T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? … AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO???'
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'I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter. Candidates aren't allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment,' the president continued in his rant. 'In addition, this was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds. IT'S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic 'entertainers,' this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system.'
@realDonaldTrump / Truth Social
He didn't stop there, however. Nearly eight hours later, he returned to the subject.
'According to news reports, Beyoncé was paid $11,000,000 to walk onto a stage, quickly ENDORSE KAMALA, and walk off to loud booing for never having performed, NOT EVEN ONE SONG!' he wrote.
'Remember, the Democrats and Kamala illegally paid her millions of Dollars for doing nothing other than giving Kamala a full throated ENDORSEMENT.
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Switching back to all-caps, he concluded: 'THIS IS AN ILLEGAL ELECTION SCAM AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL! IT IS AN ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION! BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, OPRAH, BONO AND, PERHAPS, MANY OTHERS, HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!!!'
@realDonaldTrump / Truth Socila
None of Trump's claims have been substantiated.
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Springsteen, a longtime opponent of the president, stood up as one of Trump's most prominent cultural critics last week with a verbal takedown from a British stage.
He told a Manchester audience that he believes Trump is 'unfit' for the Oval Office.
While introducing his and the E Street Band's song Land of Hopes and Dreams, after which his current tour is named, the 75-year-old Springsteen said, 'In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.'
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'The last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It's in the union of people around a common set of values now — that's all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. So at the end of the day, all we've got is each other,' Springsteen continued later in the show.
In reply, Trump later bashed The Boss as 'Highly Overrated' and 'not a talented guy.'
'I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he's not a talented guy.'
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He went on to accuse Springsteen of being a 'pushy, obnoxious JERK' and 'dumb as a rock,' before zeroing in on his appearance.
'This dried out 'prune' of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country,' the president wrote, seeming to threaten Springsteen with consequences when he returns to U.S. soil.
'Then we'll all see how it goes for him!'
Springsteen endorsed Harris last fall, about a month before the election, suggesting Trump should have been disqualified from running due to his 'disdain for the sanctity of our constitution, the sanctity of democracy, the sanctity of the rule of law, and the sanctity of the peaceful transfer of power.'
Springsteen isn't new to this game
It's not the first time Springsteen has spoken out against Trump — or a Republican president.
When former president Ronald Reagan referenced Springsteen's 'message of hope' at a campaign stop during the height of the rocker's Born in the USA popularity, Springsteen wondered if Reagan had listened to his music and its references to those left behind in the 1980s economy.
He also has had an occasionally bumpy relationship with one-time Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a fan of his music.
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Bruce Springsteen performs during the first night of 'The Land of Hopes and Dreams' tour at Co-op Live on May 14, 2025, in Manchester, England. Shirlaine Forrest / Getty Images
Springsteen has campaigned for Trump's opponents, including Harris last fall. In 2020, he said that 'a good portion of our fine country, to my eye, has been thoroughly hypnotized, brainwashed by a con man from Queens.'
He knows the outer borough reference still stung a man who built a tower in Manhattan and ascended to the presidency. Trump often stays at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Springsteen grew up in New Jersey and lives in Colts Neck, N.J.
During his career, Springsteen has challenged his audience politically beyond presidential endorsements. The 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad bluntly documented the lives of struggling immigrants — Mexican and Vietnamese among them. And his 2001 song American Skin (41 Shots), criticized the shooting by New York City police officers of an unarmed Guinean immigrant named Amadou Diallo, angering some of the blue-collar segments of his fan base.
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— With files from Global News' Rachel Goodman and The Associated Press
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