Springsteen says he wants Trump’s final two years to be ‘most miserable’ of his life

Bruce Springsteen isn’t backing off his running feud with President Trump, telling Rolling Stone he hopes Democrats retake Congress and “make the last two years of Trump’s term the most miserable years of his life, if that was possible,” according to comments the rocker made in a new interview tied to the release of his latest concert film.

The 76-year-old singer, discussing his politically charged Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour and its accompanying concert movie, said he has no regrets about the show’s heavy dose of anti-Trump commentary, even though he expects it cost him some fans.

“This was the show I wanted to make, the story I wanted to tell,” Mr. Springsteen said, adding that he’s aware “people were vehement about the content of the show, and that’s just the way the chips fall. And that’s okay with me right now.”

The tour was assembled after federal officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7; 17 days later, Alex Pretti was fatally shot during a confrontation with two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Mr. Springsteen wrote the protest song “Streets of Minneapolis” within days of Pretti’s death, dedicating it “to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.” He told Rolling Stone the song “fired the whole project, really, into being.”

On opening night in Minneapolis, Mr. Springsteen told the crowd that the America he’d “written about for 50 years” was “currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous administration” — a line he repeated throughout the tour, a 20-show run in 18 cities that concluded with a May 30 Philadelphia finale. The White House fired back at the time, with communications director Steven Cheung calling Mr. Springsteen a “loser” with “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” while Mr. Trump himself has called the singer a “dried out prune of a rocker” and “not a talented guy.”

Mr. Springsteen has also drawn criticism from fellow musicians. Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain, whose wife serves as a senior adviser in the Trump administration, said in a podcast appearance this summer that Springsteen was an annoying, bitter old man who should “shut up” about politics.

“We’re blessed to live where we live,” Mr. Cain said. “I’m obviously a conservative. I used to be a Democrat back in the old days, but I just couldn’t go there anymore.”

Mr. Springsteen has defended the political turn in his shows as a form of what he calls “critical patriotism.” In a June interview with PBS NewsHour, he said: “I believe that’s the definition of a patriot, that you love your country so much that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place.”

In the new Rolling Stone interview, Mr. Springsteen said he remains hopeful heading into the midterms, noting there are Democratic candidates he likes, though he said little else about the field. His concert film, “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour (Philadelphia Freedom Cut),” is being released in installments on YouTube.