The White House has continued its engagement with Katy Perry following her criticism of the Trump administration for using her song “Firework” in a TikTok video depicting military actions against Iran. In response, the White House released another video featuring Perry’s 2012 hit “Part of Me,” intercutting scenes from the music video with images of Donald Trump, military personnel, and fighter jets. The video is captioned with a lyric from the song, “Now look at me.”
Trump aide Kaelan Dorr also shared the video, playfully tagging Perry and asking, “Hi @katyperry,” accompanied by a waving hand emoji. This move came after Perry’s objection to the use of “Firework,” prompting Dorr to post a clip of the “Part of Me” video featuring Perry in military attire, with the caption, “This you?”
The initial clash began when the White House posted a brief TikTok video set to Perry’s “Firework,” synchronized with footage of U.S. strikes against Iran, captioned with “Iran has been warned.” Perry expressed her dismay at the use of her music, stating that she did not authorize or support its inclusion, although she no longer has control over the rights to her earlier songs.
While the music was later removed from the controversial video, Perry has not responded to the latest one. Several other artists, including Ariana Grande, Bruce Springsteen, Kesha, SZA, Sabrina Carpenter, and Olivia Rodrigo, have also criticized the Trump administration for using their music without permission.
