Pop star Sabrina Carpenter has become the latest artist pulled into a political storm after the White House posted a TikTok video promoting immigration enforcement set to her hit song “Juno.” The clip, shared by the Trump administration, shows a montage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests overlaid with the lyric “Have you ever tried this one?”—a line widely recognized as a sexual reference in the song.
In Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet tour, the line became a signature moment: during each performance, she demonstrated a different sexual position onstage as she sang it. The White House social media team used the lyric to mock the physical positions of detained migrants as agents moved in to arrest them, adding the caption, “Have you ever tried this one? Bye-bye.”
It remains unclear whether the administration secured permission to use Carpenter’s music, though past incidents suggest it is unlikely. Representatives for Carpenter and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Carpenter is not the first pop star whose music has been used without approval. Last month, Olivia Rodrigo publicly condemned the administration and the Department of Homeland Security after her song “All-American Bitch” was inserted into an Instagram video encouraging “voluntary self-deportation.” Rodrigo called the post “racist, hateful propaganda,” prompting officials to remove the clip.
Taylor Swift’s music has also appeared in government social media content. A recent White House slideshow set Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” to images of Donald Trump celebrating “The Fate of America,” including military footage and Trump’s mugshot. Swift did not comment, but she has been a vocal critic of Trump and endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.
Similar controversies have hit DHS posts that used audio from comedian Theo Von, country star Zach Bryan and even Pokémon media—each pushing back against their work being repurposed.
Reaction to the Sabrina Carpenter video has been sharply divided. Supporters of the administration praised the stunt as irreverent and humorous, with commenters writing, “Barron is the GOAT” and “This is genius.” Critics called the video tasteless and dehumanizing. “I hope Sabrina sues,” wrote one user. Another summed it up: “What did I just watch?”
Carpenter herself has remained silent. Whether she follows Rodrigo’s lead—or brushes it off—may determine whether the White House’s latest attempt at pop-culture propaganda becomes another social media misfire.
