Taylor Swift's Music Keeps Getting Pulled From Trump White House TikTok Posts
The White House TikTok account posted a video on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, soundbedded with Taylor Swift's song "I Bet You Think About Me" and captioned "We know you think about us." By early Thursday, the song's audio had been muted from the post, though the title remained tagged, according to Billboard.
This is not the first time Swift's music has disappeared from a Trump-affiliated TikTok post. The pattern has been consistent: the White House or Team Trump account uses one of her songs, and the sound is subsequently removed.
Last week, Team Trump shared an edited clip of Donald and Melania Trump watching fireworks with Swift's 2020 Folklore track "August" playing underneath, overlaid with text reading "Mood because it's August and Donald Trump is your president." By Friday, Aug. 7, TikTok users in the United States noticed the sound had been replaced with a message: "This sound isn't available." Rolling Stone reported Swift removed the song on Aug. 8.
The Team Trump account also posted a live performance version of the title track from Swift's 2012 album Red, accompanied by a fabricated "Red (Trump's Version)" playlist cover. That sound has since been wiped as well. KING5 reported that Swift's music was removed from several White House social media videos after the Trump administration used them.
On TikTok, rights holders can request the removal of their copyrighted sound from specific videos, a mechanism that appears to be behind each of these takedowns. Neither Swift nor her representatives have publicly explained the removals.
"I Bet You Think About Me" was written by Swift and Lori McKenna in 2011 and left off the original Red album. It later surfaced as a "From the Vault" recording — a track originally cut from a session and released later — featuring Chris Stapleton on Swift's 2021 re-recording, Red (Taylor's Version). The song debuted at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, the chart that tracks the most popular songs in the US across all formats.
The backdrop to these TikTok posts is a years-long rift. Donald Trump has been critical of Swift since 2018, with tensions escalating after Swift endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Trump responded by posting "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!" on his Truth Social platform. The White House also mocked Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding on July 4 by posting an altered photo of their celebration venue, Madison Square Garden, with a doctored image showing the MSG marquee reading "Trump Is Your President."
On Tuesday, Aug. 11, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announced Swift will be inducted into the contemporary songwriter/artists category as part of the Class of 2026.
At the time of Billboard's reporting, Swift had yet to publicly comment on any of the White House posts.
What makes this stand out is the mechanism itself. Politicians have long used popular songs at rallies and in campaign content, often drawing cease-and-desist letters from artists who object to the association. The TikTok format adds a different layer: a rights holder can pull audio from a specific post almost instantly, turning a social media jab into a silent one within hours. The White House posts the clip, the sound disappears, and the caption stays — a visible gap where the music used to be.
