Noah Kahan slams White House for using his song in Trump video

Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan has publicly objected to the White House using his song “American Cars” in a social media post touting President Trump’s visit to a General Motors test site in Michigan, becoming the latest musician to clash with the administration over the use of their catalog in political content over the artists’ objections.

The White House posted a series of Instagram and TikTok images Monday showing Mr. Trump touring General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground, set to Mr. Kahan’s track “American Cars.” Fans began tagging the Grammy-nominated musician in the comments, and he responded directly beneath the post, according to Rolling Stone, writing, “Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration.”

One of the song’s co-writers, Noah Levine, left a far blunter reply on the same post, telling Mr. Trump, “You fat f—- this song isn’t for you,” a comment that was later scrubbed from Instagram, Rolling Stone reported.

The song’s audio appeared to have been disabled on the White House’s Instagram post but remained active on its TikTok account, according to Fox News. “American Cars,” from Mr. Kahan’s chart-topping album “The Great Divide” — which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in May — was written for his sister, Sasha, as a tribute to her role as the family’s problem solver. 

Deputy Assistant to the President Kaelan Dorr responded to the backlash by suggesting on X that Mr. Kahan was suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” referencing another Kahan song in a jab about the singer’s “northern attitude,” according to The Daily Beast. 

Mr. Kahan’s complaint follows a similar dispute involving pop star Katy Perry, who condemned the administration last weekend after its TikTok account paired her 2010 hit “Firework” with footage of U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets, timed to the song’s “boom, boom, boom” lyric under the caption “Iran has been warned.” Ms. Perry wrote on X that she “did not approve this” and “was not asked” to use the song, adding that its message had been “weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence.” Rather than apologize, the administration later posted a second video using Ms. Perry’s 2012 song “Part of Me,” spliced with footage from her own military-themed music video alongside images of Mr. Trump and fighter jets, an escalation Mr. Dorr punctuated on X with a one-word taunt, the Daily Beast reported. 

The episodes add to a lengthening list of musicians who have objected to the White House using their music, including Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Kesha and Celine Dion, among others.