Overview
- On Wednesday, Aug. 12, the White House TikTok posted a clip using Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me” and the post’s audio was muted within hours with a message that the sound was unavailable.
- Earlier in the week, Team Trump’s TikTok used Swift’s “August” on Saturday, Aug. 8, and that audio was also replaced after viewers saw a copyright notice explaining the sound was not available.
- Multiple outlets report the removals were carried out through TikTok’s backend licensing or copyright controls at the direction of rights holders rather than through public legal filings, and Taylor Swift has not issued a public comment.
- One publication has reported a total of 11 Swift recordings removed from Trump-affiliated social posts but that figure is single-sourced and has not been independently verified by other outlets.
- The dispute follows broader pushback by artists against political use of their music and raises practical questions about how platform licensing tools let rights holders quietly restrict or mute songs on specific accounts and in specific regions.