It’s no secret that Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump are not on friendly terms.
The singer has called out Trump and his administration on multiple occasions, and Trump has not been afraid to clap back. And Thursday brought a new chapter in that back-and-forth as the White House offered a comment on Springsteen’s announcement of the North American schedule for his Land of Hope and Dreams tour.
Springsteen promised that he and the E Street Band would be “rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America — American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution and our sacred American dream — all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington D.C.”
Politico reached out to the White House about the tour’s pitch, and senior communications director Steven Cheung pulled no punches and spared no puns with his response.
“When this loser Springsteen comes back home to his own City of Ruins in his head, he’ll realize his Glory Days are behind him and his fans have left him Out in the Street, putting him in a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out because he has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his brain.”
Springsteen, whose tour will bring him through Pennsylvania, also released “Streets of Minneapolis” in January. Springsteen sings about ICE and “King Trump’s private army from the DHS,” in the song.
The singer made headlines last year when he spoke out against Trump and even released a surprise EP featuring six-tracks recorded in Manchester, England on May 14, 2025. Four of the tracks are songs. Two of the tracks are the speeches that Springsteen delivered to his audience about Trump.
“It’s great to be in Manchester and back in the UK,” Springsteen told the crowd during his first show on last Wednesday. “Welcome to the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour. The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times.”
And that is when Springsteen really got into it.
“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” he said. “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.”
Trump followed that by appearing to threaten Springsteen.
“I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about President of the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a push, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country.
“If I wasn’t elected, it would have been GONE by now!” he continued. “Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is ‘dumb as a rock,’ and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’ Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”
That did not deter Springsteen from speaking out once more on Trump days later.
“Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they are too important to ignore,” Springsteen told the crowd at his concert last year.
“In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent,” he said. “That’s happening now. In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.
“They are removing residents off American street without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers as prisoners,” he continued. “That’s happening now. The majority of our elected representatives have utterly failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government.
“They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.”
Trump followed that up with a post calling for a “major investigation” into Springsteen, Beyonce, Oprah, Bono and Kamala Harris.
“HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT?” Trump wrote. “WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCE? … AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO???
“I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter,” he continued. “Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment. In addition, this was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds. IT’S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic ‘entertainers,’ this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system.”
It does not appear that the investigation has taken place, but the two still clearly have no love for one another.