Trump suggests his opinion of Taylor Swift has made her less popular

President Trump suggested Friday his swipe at Taylor Swift last year has hurt her popularity.

“Has anyone noticed that, since I said “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,” she’s no longer “HOT?”,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post Friday, as he flew back from the Middle East to the U.S. after the first major overseas trip of his second term.

A White House official told CBS News: “As a business and entertainment mogul President Trump is highly qualified to comment on the rise and fall of various celebrities,” including Swift.

Mr. Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” last fall, days after Swift endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris. Swift’s Eras tour was still in progress at the time. The post was quickly overshadowed by news of a second assassination attempt against Mr. Trump hours later.

It wasn’t clear what prompted Mr. Trump’s mid-air musing about Swift. The pop megastar has been keeping a lower public profile in recent weeks. Her Eras tour has ended, and boyfriend Travis Kelce’s football season is over. Swift fans caught a glimpse of her at a Mother’s Day brunch in Philadelphia with the Kelce family, but she’s been photographed less frequently, except for the occasional date night, since the Kansas City Chiefs lost their Super Bowl bid.

Mr. Trump lashed out at Bruce Springsteen less than an hour later, calling him “Highly Overrated” and mocking what he called his “atrophied” skin, days after Springsteen called the Trump administration “treasonous” at a concert in the U.K.

The president’s digs at Swift and Springsteen came at the tail end of a four-day tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. During the trip, Mr. Trump met with allied Arab leaders, pledged to drop sanctions against Syria in a surprise move and announced a set of economic deals with Gulf states. Shortly before the trip started, reports emerged that Qatar would donate a Boeing 747 for Mr. Trump’s use, drawing ethics concerns — though Mr. Trump defended the move.

The bad blood between Swift and the president extends back years. Swift has only occasionally waded into politics, but has endorsed Mr. Trump’s opponents twice, backing former President Joe Biden in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Last year, she suggested she endorsed Harris in part because Mr. Trump had shared images on Truth Social that implied Swift supported him. 

In endorsing Harris, Swift said she was “a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.” 

Swift also endorsed Democrat Phil Bredesen in his unsuccessful 2018 race against Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, whom Swift called “Trump in a wig” in a documentary released in early 2020.

Mr. Trump responded to the 2018 endorsement by saying, “I like Taylor’s music about 25% less now,” adding that Swift “doesn’t know anything about” Blackburn.

Mr. Trump called Swift “unusually beautiful” and said, “I hear she’s very talented” in a 2023 interview with Variety editor Ramin Setoodeh — but questioned her stated political views.

“She’s legitimately liberal? It’s not an act? It surprises me that a country star can be successful being liberal,” Mr. Trump said of the crossover star to Setoodeh, according to excerpts published by Variety last year.

Swift’s representative did not offer a response to Mr. Trump’s post Friday.

Willie James Inman and

Graham Kates

contributed to this report.