Rolling Stone
View all posts by Rolling Stone July 28, 2026
Scott Dudelson/FilmMagic; Sacha Lecca; Scott Dudelson/FilmMagic No president has ever been more obsessed with being liked by celebrities, especially music stars, than Donald Trump. Suffice it to say, they have not returned the favor. In the decade-plus since he first slid down his golden escalator and announced his first run for president, Trump has inspired an enormous number of protest songs. Songwriters have taken on his racism, his sexism, his hypocrisy, his corruption, his greed, his dictatorial aspirations, and more. Some of these are somber, some are screeds, some are about policy, some are just visceral statements of deep personal revulsion.
Every genre in music has been chipping in — from punk rockers to rappers to folkies and indie singer-songwriters. Some of the artists on our list of Trump protest songs have been speaking truth to power for decades, others have spent a large part of their lives inside the Trump nightmare. They all light a torch to help us find a way out.
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Eminem, ‘Campaign Speech’ (2016)
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage Eminem has long been a spokesman for the kind alienated white working class male that Trumo is alleged to draw the core of his support from, but he was on the anti-MAGA train early, releasing this eight minute freestyle in October 2016. Moat of the song is more about Eminem’s issues than any political ones. But amidst the track’s rapid fire rhymes, offensive jibes, and pop culture references, he takes time to address the kind of people who might be on the fence about casting a ballot for Trump in a couple weeks. “You say Trump don’t kiss ass like a puppet/’Cause he runs his campaign with his own cash for the fundin’/And that’s what you wanted/A fuckin’ loose cannon who’s blunt with his hand on the button/Who doesn’t have to answer to no one/Great idea!.”–Jon Dolan
