Trump Fumes at Taylor Swift After “Woke” Ad Goes Viral

When a jeans commercial sparks a presidential rant, you know America’s culture wars are in full swing. This week, a new American Eagle spot starring Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney ignited a wave of discourse over its cheeky wordplay (“great jeans/genes”), with critics arguing it flirted with exclusionary beauty ideals. Into the fray jumped President Donald Trump, who not only praised Sweeney’s ad as the “HOTTEST” out there but also used the moment to swipe at Taylor Swift—calling the pop star “no longer hot” and railing against “WOKE” branding. The post lit up social media, tabloids, and political feeds alike, turning a denim ad into the latest proxy battle in America’s never-ending culture clash. People.comThe Independent

What Trump Said—and Why It Landed Like a Grenade

In a Truth Social post on August 4, Trump lauded Sweeney—described as a “registered Republican”—and declared her American Eagle commercial the “‘HOTTEST’ ad out there,” claiming the jeans were “flying off the shelves.” He then pivoted to Swift, writing “just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift,” asserting that after he publicly declared he couldn’t stand her, she was “booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT.” He capped it with a slogan: “The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be.” The framing wasn’t incidental; it was a deliberate contrast between what he casts as a proudly conservative ad and a symbol of progressive pop culture. People.com

The “no longer hot” jab did what it was designed to do: guarantee coverage. Outlets from mainstream magazines to entertainment trades picked up the comments, emphasizing the pattern of Trump using culture-industry flashpoints to energize his base and dominate attention cycles. That attention is the point. The more a post feels like trolling—complete with capital letters and schoolyard aesthetics—the more likely it is to be amplified, debated, and fought over. nme.com

The Ad at the Center of It

American Eagle titled the campaign “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” playing off “jeans/genes.” The imagery—spotlighting Sweeney’s blonde hair and blue eyes—kicked off a storm of criticism online, with some accusing the spot of leaning into coded language about hereditary traits. American Eagle, for its part, defended the campaign, saying it referenced denim and Sweeney’s story, not genetic superiority. Whether viewers saw harmless wordplay or something uglier, the result was the same: the clip went viral, discourse exploded, and the ad became the week’s culture-war accelerant. The Independent

That virality is the backdrop to Trump’s post. He has repeatedly tried to draw a bright line between “woke” marketing—think inclusive imagery or progressive themes—and campaigns he claims are winning by being unapologetically anti-woke. In the same breath that he praised Sweeney, he trashed supposedly “woke” ads from brands like Bud Light and Jaguar, presenting a simplified scoreboard: when “woke” shows up, you lose; when you mock or reject it, you win. Whether that’s true in business terms often depends on what metric you cherry-pick (stock blips, boycott noise, or social media sentiment). But as a political message to his followers, it’s clean and sticky. People.com

Why Drag Taylor Swift Into It?

Swift is not part of the American Eagle campaign and hasn’t commented on it. She’s in the post because, for Trump, Swift is a convenient cultural foil: massively popular, politically engaged, and unapologetically aligned with Democrats. After Swift endorsed Kamala Harris in September 2024, Trump responded with “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”—a sign that their cold war had turned white-hot. Since then he’s returned to the well whenever it suits the storyline, painting Swift as emblematic of a “woke elite” and insisting (contrary to the mountain of data about her ongoing success) that she’s fading because he said so. It’s not analysis—it’s branding. People.com

The tactic works because Swift sits at the crossroads of pop stardom and civic engagement, and because her fans are unusually organized online. Mention her name, and you trigger an ecosystem: stans, haters, think-piece writers, and political operatives who see every flare-up as an opportunity to fundraise or mobilize voters. That storm of attention then feeds back into the original post, making it look prescient or powerful. It’s attention alchemy—one Trump has practiced for years.

Culture War Marketing 101

The Sweeney ad is a marketer’s Rorschach test. For some, it’s a nostalgic denim fantasy, all Americana and confidence. For others, it’s a dog whistle glossed in glossy lighting. Trump’s intervention reframed the conversation a third way: not art, not offense, but allegiance. If you cheer the ad, you’re on “our” team; if you criticize it, you’re “woke.” That binary is simple enough to travel far and fast, especially when it’s anchored to two household names.

Media reactions mirrored the split. Coverage emphasized the “no longer hot” line as sexist and unserious, while also noting that singling out Swift virtually guarantees maximum reach. Commentary in mainstream and entertainment outlets underscored how the president grafted an old feud onto a fresh controversy to recenter himself in the narrative. The upshot wasn’t clarity about the ad’s intent; it was more evidence that cultural debates are routinely conscripted into partisan trench warfare. New York MagazineYahoo News UK

The Political Math Behind the Rhetoric

There’s another layer here: voter psychology. Culture fights are emotionally efficient. They don’t require policy details, and they reward gut reactions. By branding Swift “woke” (and therefore a loser) and elevating Sweeney as a conservative darling, Trump positions himself as the arbiter of what’s cool and what’s cringe in American life. It’s an odd place for a head of state, but a familiar one for a media figure who treats politics as perpetual content.

Will it change minds? Probably not many. Swift’s base wasn’t going to peel off because of a Truth Social jab; likewise, Trump’s supporters weren’t waiting for a denim ad to validate their politics. But the exchange keeps each side’s voters emotionally engaged, which is a kind of power. In a media environment where attention is the scarcest currency, a viral skirmish—even over jeans—can be politically valuable.

Swift’s Silence, Sweeney’s Spotlight, and What’s Next

As of now, Swift hasn’t publicly responded to Trump’s latest broadside. She rarely dignifies this genre of attack in real time, preferring to focus on tour stops, releases, or measured political statements at moments of her choosing. Sweeney, whose ad started the cascade, is in a more precarious spot: her brand partners, film studios, and fan demographics are diverse and often divided. Even if the campaign was meant as playful wordplay, the conversation around it may affect how brands script their next move—especially if they’re wary of launching their products straight into a political buzz saw. nme.comThe Independent

Why This Moment Matters

It would be easy to dismiss this as just another chaotic news cycle, but it’s illustrative. The Sweeney ad shows how quickly aesthetics and copy can be interpreted through ideological lenses. Trump’s post shows how a political figure can commandeer that debate to punish perceived enemies and reward allies. And the Swift angle shows how celebrity activism and fandom can supercharge a story far beyond its original scope.

If the last decade taught brands anything, it’s that culture doesn’t stay in its lane. Ads are arguments. Pop stars are proxies. Presidents are influencers. By week’s end, the American Eagle spot had transcended retail; it was a referendum on values, taste, and identity—exactly the kind of arena where Trump is most comfortable throwing elbows, and where Swift, simply by existing at the apex of popular culture, is destined to be dragged again and again. People.comNew York Magazine