Musicians Donald Trump Has Insulted, From Taylor Swift to Snoop Dogg
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From the first time he ran for president in 2016 to his second term in office following the 2024 election — between which time he spent four years out of office, after losing to Joe Biden in 2020 — the former reality star has publicly expressed dislike for a number of hitmakers, from Taylor Swift to Snoop Dogg, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna and more. His comments about the aforementioned artists have ranged from quick, snide remarks to full-on tirades against their characters, but they're all usually inspired by a celebrity's decision to publicly side against him on a political matter or endorse one of his opponents, be it Biden, Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris.
Such was the case for Bruce Springsteen, who provoked a heated rant from the twice-impeached POTUS after calling the Trump administration 'treasonous' in 2024, just as it was for Madonna, whose stance against him on reproductive freedom led the politician to call her words 'disgusting' in 2017.
After his second term in office concludes in 2029, Trump will have been in and out of the White House for a total of 12 years. Keep reading to see the most notable times he's lambasted a musician — whether in public, during an interview or via a post on his X and Truth Social accounts — over the course of that time below.
At a 2019 rally, Trump bragged that he 'didn't need Beyoncé and Jay-Z' to win back in 2016. And, about a year later, he again poked fun at the power couple's support of Hillary Clinton back during his first election at yet another rally.
'That happened to Hillary too, right? They got Beyoncé and they got Jay-Z, right?' he mocked. '[Jay-Z] started using the f-word in front of the crowd and it was unbelievable. He was using the f-word, f-word, f-word. Then they left and the crowd left and Hillary was standing on stage with an empty place.'
Before that, Trump also implied that he was more popular than Bey and Jay — something PolitiFact later debunked. 'Beyoncé and Jay Z, I like them, I like them,' he told followers at a 2016 rally. 'And you know what they do? I get bigger crowds than they do. It's true. I get far bigger crowds.'
At the same 2020 rally where he bashed Jay-Z's performance at Hillary Clinton's campaign event years prior, Trump also came for Jon Bon Jovi. 'Every time he sees me, he kisses my a– … 'Oh, Mr. President,'' Trump said of the rock star. 'He'll get something out of it, just like everyone is.'
Bruce Springsteen had long been opposed to Trump, but something The Boss said during a 2025 concert in Manchester, England, really got under the president's skin. 'The America I love, the America I've written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,' Springsteen said on stage at the time.
Two days later, Trump blasted the rock star on Truth Social. 'I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States,' he wrote. 'Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he's not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL … Springsteen is 'dumb as a rock,' and couldn't see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? 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.'
Six years prior, Trump also made a derisive comment toward the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer while bragging about his 2016 election win at a 2019 rally. 'I didn't need little Bruce Springsteen,' he said, referencing the musician's support of opponent Hillary Clinton.
John Legend, along with wife Chrissy Teigen, has been outspoken about their dislike of Trump for years. But in the POTUS' eyes, he went a bridge too far in 2019 when the R&B great appeared at a criminal justice town hall hosted by Lester Holt at the Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York.
'Guys like boring musician @johnlegend?, and his filthy mouthed wife, are talking now about how great it is – but I didn't see them around when we needed help getting it passed,' Trump tweeted at the time.
'Imagine being president of a whole country and spending your Sunday night hate-watching MSNBC hoping somebody–ANYBODY–will praise you,' Legend fired back at the time. 'Melania, please praise this man. He needs you.'
After Lady Gaga endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, Trump and his team slammed Mother Monster for being an 'anti-fracking activist,' something that confused fans given that the singer didn't exactly have a long history of speaking on fracking. Even Gaga seemed baffled, writing on her Instagram Story, 'What is a fracking?'
Shortly afterward, Trump again lamented Gaga's support of Biden during a rally. 'Now he's got Lady Gaga,' he said at the time. 'I could tell you plenty of stories – I could tell you stories about Lady Gaga, I know a lot of stories.'
After Madonna's expletive-filled speech at the January 2017 Women's March on Washington, Trump didn't mince words in an interview with Fox News. 'I think she's disgusting,' he told the outlet. 'I think she hurt herself very badly. I think she hurt that whole cause. In particular, I thought what she said was disgraceful to our country.'
In her speech, Madge said that she had 'thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House,' though she followed that comment up with, 'But I know this won't change anything.'
'Welcome to the revolution of love, to the rebellion, to our refusal as women to accept this new age of tyranny, where not just women are in danger but all marginalized people, where being uniquely different right now might truly be considered a crime,' she also said in her speech. 'It took this horrific moment of darkness to wake us the f— up.'
The 'Anti-Hero' singer has been on the receiving end of a Trump diss multiple times over the years, starting when she urged Tennessee voters not to elect Republican Marsha Blackburn — whom she'd later call 'Trump in a wig' in her Miss Americana documentary — in 2018. The then-president would respond by saying Swift 'doesn't know anything about' Blackburn, who later won her senate race against Phil Bredesen, and told reporters, 'Let's just say I like Taylor's music about 25% less now, okay?'
The politician would continue making barbed comments about Swift over time, poking at her endorsement of Joe Biden in 2020 and her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. When she backed Kamala Harris in 2024, Trump famously wrote on Truth Social, 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!' Eight months later, he'd post, 'Has anyone noticed that, since I said 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,' she's no longer 'HOT?''
Plus, after Philadelphia Eagles fans booed Swift — who was there to support her boyfriend's team instead — at the 2025 Super Bowl, Trump mocked her on social media. 'She got BOOED out of the Stadium,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'MAGA is very unforgiving!'
Trump came after Snoop Dogg after the rapper mockingly aimed a toy pistol at a clown-faced character named Ronald Klump in the 2017 music video for the Nightfall remix of BADBADNOTGOOD's 'Lavender.' 'Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!' the president tweeted.
Years later, however, Trump would earn Snoop's respect — despite the 'Lavender' video being one of many times the hip-hop star had bashed the politician in the past. After publicly thanking Trump for granting clemency to Death Row Records co-founder Michael 'Harry-O' Harris in 2021, Snoop said in a 2024 interview with The Sunday Times, 'I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump.'
Snoop would also perform at Trump's inauguration ball in 2025, a decision that earned him much backlash.
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