{
  "id": 347724,
  "title": "Team Trump taunts Taylor Swift with ‘August’ — then the song disappears from its TikTok",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/team-trump-taunts-taylor-swift-with-august-then-the-song-disappears",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-09T05:03:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail-malaymail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/showbiz/2026/08/09/team-trump-taunts-taylor-swift-with-august-then-the-song-disappears-from-its-tiktok/230685"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On August 9, TikTok account affiliated with the Trump campaign removed Taylor Swift's song August from a video of President Donald Trump and Vice President Melania Trump watching fireworks. The caption accompanying the video seemed to encourage the use of the song, reading \"I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song! #taylorswift #maga #august\". However, by Friday, users found that August had been removed from the clip, replaced with a notice stating that the copyright owner hadn’t made the sound available in their country. Another Team Trump video featuring the track Father Figure was also found to have its audio stripped in November 2025. It is unclear if Swift or her representatives requested the removals. This incident adds to the escalating conflict between Swift and Trump. Swift endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, to which Trump responded by declaring he hated her. Since then, Team Trump’s TikTok account has repeatedly used Swift’s music in videos, seemingly to provoke the pop star. The White House has also taken part in the feud, posting memes about Swift in July on the day of her marriage to Travis Kelce. Trump has held a grudge against Swift since before the 2024 campaign, publicly criticizing her music endorsements in the past. The latest removals mark another development in their ongoing feud, with Team Trump still invoking Swift even as her music sometimes disappears from their posts.",
  "summary": "LOS ANGELES, Aug 9 — Taylor Swift’s music has been removed from two videos posted by a Trump-affiliated TikT...",
  "key_points": [
    "Team Trump removed Taylor Swift's \"August\" from a TikTok video on August 9",
    "The song was replaced with a copyright notice on August 10",
    "Conflict stems from Swift's 2024 endorsement of Kamala Harris"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Daily Times",
        "title": "Greta reveals inspiration she got from working alongside Taylor Swift on ‘Opalite’ music video",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/greta-reveals-inspiration-she-got-from-working-alongside-taylor-swift",
        "published": "2026-08-09T04:34:55.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Sky News",
        "title": "Taylor Swift songs removed from Trump team's social media posts",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/taylor-swift-songs-removed-from-trump-teams-social-media-posts",
        "published": "2026-08-09T06:49:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}