Noah Kahan has slammed the White House for using his song 'American Cars' in a promotional video. On Monday, the White House shared an Instagram post featuring images of President Donald Trump visiting General Motors' test site in Michigan, set to Kahan's song.
After many fans tagged Kahan in the comments, he wrote: 'Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration.' Noah Levine, who co-wrote the song with Kahan, also commented, stating 'this song isn't for you.'
Recent backlash against White House music use
Kahan is one of several singers who have recently called out the use of their songs by the White House and Trump. Last weekend, Katy Perry hit back for using her 2010 song 'Firework' in a TikTok post that included footage of military strikes. She posted on X: 'I am deeply appalled and angry to see Firework used on the White House 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 weaponised 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.'
Last month, Ariana Grande also criticised the White House after her song 'Bye' was used in a video showing ICE agents detaining people, telling the administration not to use her music 'in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.' Sabrina Carpenter called an ICE video featuring her song 'Juno' as 'evil and disgusting,' while Olivia Rodrigo told the administration not to use her music to 'promote racist, hateful propaganda.'
Long history of unauthorised use
Over the past few years, many other musicians including The Rolling Stones, Adele, Abba, Celine Dion and Foo Fighters have also publicly called out their songs being used by the Trump administration.
