‘I Thought Trump Hated Bad Bunny?’: White House Deletes Hypocritical TikTok After Internet Backlash

The White House has removed Bad Bunny's music from an Iran-themed TikTok featuring Donald Trump after users questioned why the administration was using an artist previously attacked by the president. The video, posted on the White House's official TikTok account, showed Trump threatening Iran alongside footage of military aircraft before the audio was removed.

The clip now carries the message, 'This sound isn't available,' indicating that the track has been removed. The White House has not publicly explained whether the music was taken down because of copyright concerns, criticism from Bad Bunny or backlash in the comment section.

Bad Bunny Music Disappears from White House Video

The video opened with Trump delivering a warning aimed at Iran. 'Well, if they back out again, they're gonna get hit really hard. You know? They know that, they understand that,' the president said in the footage.

That statement was followed by clips of Trump speaking at the White House and at rallies, intercut with images of fighter jets. The result was a hard-edged political video built around the administration's military message, with Bad Bunny's music providing the soundtrack.

That choice immediately raised eyebrows because Trump has previously criticised the Puerto Rican singer in unusually blunt terms. After Bad Bunny was announced as the performer for the Super Bowl LX half-time show, Trump described it as 'absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER' on social media.

He also called the performance 'a slap in the face' to the United States and said there was 'nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show.' One user wrote, 'Ohhhh, Bad Bunny would not approve this,' while another asked, 'Why are we using Bad Bunny's music?' A third person posted what many viewed as the central contradiction: 'I thought Trump hated Bad Bunny?'

Another user claimed Bad Bunny might 'ban all his songs from TikTok at this point.' Someone else pointed to the irony of the White House using the artist's music after the controversy surrounding the half-time show, writing, 'Using the same song you had to make a whole different halftime show for is quite ironic if you ask me.'

Whether the criticism influenced the removal cannot be confirmed. The available evidence shows only that the sound was present when the video was posted and later became unavailable.

Why Bad Bunny Keeps Appearing in Trump Videos

The Iran video was not the first time the White House used Bad Bunny's music in content promoting the Trump administration's agenda.

About a week earlier, the White House TikTok account posted a video supporting Trump's deportation campaign using the singer's song 'La Mudanza.' That video featured short clips of Trump followed by footage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detaining men and women. The ICE logo appeared in the lower-right corner at several points during the video. The track was later removed from that post as well.

The repeated use of Bad Bunny's music is especially striking because the singer has been a prominent target of Trump's criticism. It also reflects a broader pattern in the White House's social media strategy, which has leaned heavily on recognisable music and internet-friendly edits to promote political messages.

The administration has faced complaints over the use of songs associated with artists including Katy Perry, Olivia Rodrigo, Kesha, Beyoncé, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande and Noah Kahan. In several cases, musicians have objected to their work appearing alongside government messaging without their apparent approval.

After Kesha criticised the White House for using her music, White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung responded on X. 'All these "singers" keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they're bitching about,' Cheung wrote.

Controversy is not necessarily treated as a problem if it drives views. But the Bad Bunny videos highlight the risk of that strategy, particularly when the music appears to clash with the president's own public comments about the artist.

For now, the White House has removed the music from both videos. Bad Bunny has not publicly responded in the supplied material, and there is no confirmed indication that he requested the takedowns. The reason the songs disappeared remains unclear, and any claims about why they were removed should be treated with caution. The videos remain an unusual social media contradiction, with an artist publicly criticised by Trump briefly becoming the soundtrack to the White House's political messaging.

Originally published on IBTimes UK