The ongoing clash between the Trump administration and prominent musicians has spilled into new territory, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Border Patrol ramp up their use of popular music and religious themes in social media campaigns—often without the artists’ consent. On June 15, 2025, DHS released a Father’s Day video featuring The White Stripes’s “We’re Going to Be Friends” playing softly behind footage of a Border Patrol agent riding an ATV through the desert. The video, narrated by a young girl describing her father as a “superhero,” was intended as a tribute but quickly sparked backlash from Jack White, the band’s frontman, and his supporters.
Jack White, never one to shy away from controversy, responded to the White House’s use of his music with characteristic candor. On August 18, 2025, he posted a scathing critique on Instagram, lambasting President Donald Trump’s redecoration of the White House. “Look at how disgusting Trump has transformed the historic White House,” White wrote, describing it as a “vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler’s dressing room,” according to Truthout.
The White House, in turn, fired back through a spokesperson, dismissing the Grammy-winning artist as a “washed up, has-been loser.” White’s reply was swift and unfiltered, addressing “MAGA folk” directly: “Enjoy your paving over your rose garden, your 200 million dollar ballroom in the White House, and your gaudy ass gold spray painted trinkets from Home Depot, cause he ain’t spending any money on helping YOU unless you fit into his white supremacist country club rich idiot agenda.”
This is far from the first time Trump or his administration has used music without permission. The Trump campaign previously featured The White Stripes’s “Seven Nation Army” in a fundraising video, prompting the band to file a lawsuit. Although the lawsuit was dropped in December 2024, no public reason was given, underscoring the legal and financial hurdles artists face in such battles.
The controversy extends well beyond Jack White. Over the past year, DHS and Border Patrol have posted a series of propaganda videos on their official social media accounts, often pairing dramatic footage of immigration enforcement with songs by artists who have openly criticized Trump. According to Truthout, these videos have included music from the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Young Jeezy featuring Akon, Madonna, Shaboozey featuring Paul Cauthen, Vanilla Ice, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dolly Parton, Survivor, Hall and Oates, Solo Artist Saxx, and LL Cool J. Particularly jarring are videos set to LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out” and Solo Artist Saxx’s “Blowin Up,” which play over scenes of Border Patrol agents handcuffing suspects and violently detaining people on the street.
Artists have not taken these affronts lightly. Beyoncé sent a cease and desist letter to the Trump campaign after her song “Freedom” was used in a campaign video. Isaac Hayes III, son of the legendary Isaac Hayes, has been particularly outspoken. On social media, he condemned the use of “Hold on I’m Coming” at Trump rallies, declaring, “Donald Trump represents the worst in integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of Women and racist rhetoric. We will now deal with this very swiftly.” Hayes’s estate and Isaac Hayes Enterprises LLC filed a lawsuit against Trump, his campaign, and others. As of April 2025, a judge denied Trump’s request to dismiss the case, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.
The administration’s use of music is just one facet of a broader, more aggressive social media strategy. In July 2025, DHS released a video featuring military-style officers preparing for a mission, overlaying the text of Proverbs 28:1: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.” A second video released in August featured DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and tactical agents in helicopters, with audio from the 2014 film “Fury.” In the clip, Shia LaBeouf’s character quotes Isaiah 6:8: “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Here am I. Send me.”
These overtly religious messages have drawn sharp criticism from interfaith leaders and progressive Christian activists. Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, vice president of programs at Interfaith Alliance, denounced the campaign in an MSNBC opinion piece, calling it “blasphemously” exploitative. “Ostentatious religiosity is often an attempt to overcompensate for some decidedly less-divine behavior,” he wrote, arguing that defending harsh immigration policies with Bible verses is “a confession of moral bankruptcy.” Graves-Fitzsimmons pointed out that the Bible contains 92 Old Testament references to the Hebrew word for immigrant, underscoring a scriptural call for compassion that he says the administration is ignoring.
The DHS campaign, which reportedly reaches over 40 million Americans weekly, is part of a deliberate strategy to circumvent traditional media, which DHS claims “throttle the truth.” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in a statement on August 19, 2025, accused the media of focusing on “paintings and art” rather than crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. She cited the August 2023 sentencing of Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, for the murder of Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five. “Every single day Americans are killed by illegal aliens who should have never been in this country. And nearly every single day the media ignore these victims,” McLaughlin said.
The timing of these campaigns is no coincidence. They coincide with the administration’s efforts to hire 10,000 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, a move authorized by a sweeping “megabill” signed into law on July 4, 2025. According to Fox News, DHS received over 80,000 applicants by early August, signaling both the scale of the recruitment drive and the administration’s commitment to expanding immigration enforcement.
Not everyone is on board. Coalition groups, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the American Baptist Churches USA, and the Alliance of Baptists, have filed lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s policy of conducting immigration enforcement operations on church properties. These lawsuits allege that such actions have caused congregations to suffer declines in attendance and financial contributions, as faith communities grapple with the fallout of being drawn into contentious immigration battles.
This intersection of culture, politics, and religion—where pop music and biblical verses are wielded as tools of statecraft—has reignited a national debate about the boundaries of government messaging and the rights of artists. For many, it’s not just a question of copyright or ethics, but of the soul of American public life. As Jack White and others continue to push back, and as legal battles grind on, the final outcome remains uncertain. What is clear is that the struggle over who gets to control the soundtrack—and the story—of American power is far from over.
As the administration doubles down on its messaging and recruitment, and as religious and artistic communities push back in the courts and in the public square, the cultural and legal skirmishes unfolding this summer may well shape the tone of American political life for years to come.