The Boss vs. The President: Why does Bruce Springsteen hate Donald Trump?
“Born in the USA”, Bruce Springsteen booms on his ultimate Americana anthem. Ever since its release in 1984, the song has been misunderstood, though. Time and time again, it’s mistaken for a patriotic anthem rather than the protest song for the working man that it actually is. But as Donald Trump tried to co-opt it into his campaign, that was the start of a feud between The Boss and the President that keeps getting fiercer.
The issues between Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump started in 2016, but really, anyone with any level of knowledge about the musician could have predicted them. As Trump built his platform on far-right policies such as being anti-immigration, anti-women’s rights, anti-trans rights, and generally having a history of racism and misogyny, all of those things stand firmly against Springsteen’s own politics.
Springsteen is a long-time democrat. He rallied behind Barack Obama in 2008, speaking openly and proudly about his desire for every American to have better education, fairer wages, and live with less ignorance. Since the 1990s, he’s loudly supported LGBT+ rights, even cancelling shows that would have placed bathroom laws on his ticketholders, denying transgender fans access to the bathrooms they felt comfortable in. He’s been at marches and protests for decades now, using his platform to stand up for basically all the things Trump is adamantly against — so the two were never going to align.
But in 2016, during Trump’s first run, Springsteen took the first direct stand by speaking out against his use of ‘Born In The USA’ and publicly declaring his support for his opponent, Hillary Clinton. It led to a turn against him from his right-wing fans, but he didn’t care, continuing to be staunchly anti-Trump, publicly stating things like Trump “doesn’t have a grasp of the deep meaning of what it means to be an American.”
The reasons behind it all are simple, given Springsteen’s politics and given Trump’s. The musician said back in 2020 that Trump was a “threat to our democracy”, truly believing him to be a danger to Americans as Springsteen responded by throwing his support behind Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris, allowing his song ‘The Rising’ to be used in the democratic campaign, giving his voice to narrate their ads, appearing at rallies and posting online to his mass following about his stance. In short, Springsteen couldn’t really do any more to show where his alliance is, and it’s not with Trump — a fact that this particular President, who famously hates being scorned or criticised, does not like.
But as Trump’s actions in his new term become more critical, including a major stepping up in ICE raids, deportations, including ones deemed unlawful by the Supreme court, limiting what arts organisations can do or show and squashing rights for women, trans people and beyond, Springsteen’s criticism of the president have levelled up to, leading to a whole new chapter in their feud.
What is happening between Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump?
While previously Springsteen was simply one of many musicians and public figures who supported Trump’s opposition, lately he seems to have become one of the president’s active enemies, as Trump is taking moves against the all-American artist.
It was Springsteen’s concert in Manchester on May 14, 2025, that prompted this switch. Before playing his song ‘Land of Hopes and Dreams’, he spoke to the crowd directly about his feelings towards the current administration in the US. Typically, his political statements have focused more on hopes for the future and a desire for a better world. But in this instance, the tone was serious and distinctly pessimistic and critical as he said, “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”
In the stadium, he called for “all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”
Given Trump’s well-known hatred for being criticised, and especially for being publicly critiqued or even embarrassed, as Springsteen was clearly at some point an artist he admired, given his desire to use his music, this did not go down well.
In response to Springsteen’s statement, which he doubled down on by putting it on streaming platforms it as part of a swiftly released live EP, Trump has announced a “major investigation” into the artist.
On his Truth social platform, the president wrote, “I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country.”
He wrapped things up with a seeming threat by stating, “This dried out “prune” of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just “standard fare.” Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
It didn’t deter Springsteen, though, who returned to the stage on May 17th and stated, “In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now.” He continued, “In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.”
Never one to back down, Trump raged online again. On May 19th, he wrote, “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? …AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO??? I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.”
Trump appears to now be claiming that all the artists who spoke out against him, or denied him use of their music, are part of a paid conspiracy from the other side.
There’s nothing yet on what this investigation might look like or if it will ever materialise, but either way, the battle between the Boss and the President rolls on.
