The war between the Trump administration and musicians and other artists keeps raging. You’ve heard about the White House once again appropriating a song, this time by Sabrina Carpenter, used as the backdrop to ICE arrest images. Carpenter called the video “evil and disgusting” and made it known that she doesn’t want her work coopted in this manner. Anybody in the Trump administration know the word “licensing” and how that simple legal procedure can save you headaches?
As you saw, the White House not only did not apologize or attempt to defuse the issue, in true Trumpian form they doubled down and insulted the artist. I wonder if they ever consider that maybe some of the 71 million people who saw Carpenter’s social media post might actually go out and vote against the GOP? It does seem to be worth consideration, doncha think?
71 million views. Another brilliant PR move by the outstanding WH comms team. They owned the libs again by attacking and demeaning Sabrina just because she asked them not to steal her music for one of their sick deportation videos. Thanks for the new voters. pic.twitter.com/yEyrmhsj2i
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 3, 2025
Carpenter is not in the wrong here. The Trump regime is. You can’t just grab copyrighted material and use it at will. Oh, a short snippet here and there, within limited time frames is considered fair use. But when you actually use an entire song or most of it, you need to license the material and head off these kinds of issues at the past.
To steal the artist’s work and then to insult the artist on top of it is simply beyond the pale. But that’s vintage Trump. The essence of the Trump mentality is to make somebody else wrong and then bludgeon them when they object. This is the new hip MAGA way.
And you probably have heard more squawking from Canada, this time about the misappropriation of Franklin the Turtle.
… Politico: “The publisher of children’s book series ‘Franklin the Turtle’ hit out at ‘unauthorized’ depictions of its main character after Pete Hegseth posted a mock cover of Franklin shooting at drug traffickers. Hegseth shared an image of a children’s book, titled ‘Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists,’ showing the eponymous turtle dressed in military gear, standing in a helicopter and firing a weapon at boats loaded with cargo and men with guns. ‘For your Christmas wish list,’ Hegseth captioned the picture.”
… Statement from publisher Kids Can Press: “Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.”
Once again, Pete Hegseth completely misreads the room and takes an action which every other objective observer finds egregious and unnecessary, not to mention violent and tasteless. There is a lot to be said for picking your battles but the Trump administration feels it’s a great idea to go to war with everybody. Not smart. They may end up paying quite the price at the ballot box come November.
Oh, I really wish Drumpf would use some Eagles music for one of his in(s)ane ads. Don Henley is SOOOOOOOO protective of his songs that it’s almost impossible for anyone to use any Eagles music, even if they claim legitimate fair use of the music (for instance, a number of YouTube music content creators try to analyze the group’s music or do some sort of “countdown” and Henley, almost without fail, will send a cease-and-desist form for YouTube to issue a “strike” which can end up completely demonetizing the creator’s piece or entire channel–enough of these “strikes” and YouTube will ban the channel entirely). I’d love to see what the man who sang about the “tired old man that we elected king” (in “The End of the Innocence”) would do to Drumpf for using the Eagles music or his own solo material. I think Henley would absolutely take Drumpf to court and see it to the bitter end.
Another artist who guards their copyright like a hawk is MAGA darling Lee Greenwood, he of MAGA anthem God Bless The USA.
“MAGA anthem God Bless The USA” which as I recall, Greenwood objected to when Trump first used it, but then tRump must have paid him off, or more likely threatened him or his family, and suddenly it’s the MAGA theme song!