Jack White Threatens Donald Trump Campaign With Lawsuit: ‘Don’t Even Think About Using My Music’
A seven nation army couldn’t hold Jack White back from calling out Donald Trump over the alleged unauthorized use of his music.
In a heated Instagram post Thursday (Aug. 29), the White Stripes rocker reshared a tweet seemingly posted by the former president’s deputy director of communications, Margo Martin, featuring a video of Trump ascending the stairs of a plane as the iconic bass riff of “Seven Nation Army” plays. “Oh….Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” White began.
More from Billboard
Beyoncé, Foo Fighters & More: How Artist Objections to Political Song Use Are Evolving
Friday Music Guide: New Music From Big Sean, A$AP Rocky, Muni Long and More
“Law suit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others.)” he continued. “Have a great day at work today Margo Martin. And as long as I’m here, a double f–k you DonOLD for insulting our nation’s veterans at Arlington you scum. You should lose every military family’s vote immediately from that if ANYTHING makes sense anymore.”
Billboard has reached out to Trump’s team for comment. At press time, the tweet is not visible on Martin’s X page, where she frequently posts photos and videos of Trump on the campaign trail.
White’s post is only the latest instance of a musician threatening legal action against the ex-POTUS for allegedly using their music without permission — in fact, it’s one of multiple that went down over the past two weeks. First, Beyoncé’s team sent Trump a cease-and-desist for using her hit “Freedom” in a campaign video, an interesting move considering Democratic opponent Kamala Harris has adopted the track as her campaign’s theme song, which Bey signed off on.
Then, Foo Fighters accused the billionaire of playing “My Hero” at campaign events without permission and pledged to donate any royalties from the usage to Harris’ campaign. (Trump’s team countered by saying they’d gotten a license to use the track.)
It’s also not the first time the White Stripes — which was comprised of Jack and Meg White — have called out Trump for co-opting “Seven Nation Army.” When the republican first ran for president in 2016, he again used the track in a campaign video, after which the duo released a statement saying that they were “disgusted by this association.”
See White’s post threatening legal action against Trump below.
Best of Billboard
H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Anne Wilson's 'I Still Believe in Christmas' Crowns Christian Airplay Chart
Sign up for Billboard's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.