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Swedish pop star Zara Larsson has criticized the White House for using her song "Midnight Sun" in a TikTok video showing immigration enforcement raids, which she described as dehumanizing and misleading. The video has since been removed but remains visible on the White House's TikTok feed. Larsson posted a three-minute reaction video explaining her concerns about the use of her music to spread divisive messages, emphasizing that many undocumented immigrants are regular people seeking a better future. This incident adds to previous instances where artists like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande have demanded removal of their songs from similar contexts by the Trump administration.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Swedish pop star Zara Larsson criticized the White House for using her song Midnight Sun in a social media post depicting immigration enforcement raids. The clip was captioned "never ending deportations," referencing Larsson's lyrics about "never-ending midnight sun." She released a three-minute reaction video on TikTok, where she described the use of her music as "dehumanising" and joined other artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande in asking the Trump administration to stop using their songs. The post has since been removed but remains visible on the White House's TikTok feed. Larsson’s response video garnered more than 4.2 million views, highlighting growing artist resistance against political misuse of music for controversial content related to immigration policy.
Written for “Zara Larsson Criticizes White House” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.65, but none of the 4 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 17656: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-18
- Published
Swedish pop star Zara Larsson has condemned the White House for using one of her most recognisable songs in a social media reel.
asserted
Larsson → publish → reel
The clip used Larsson's Midnight Sun in a video appearing to show immigration enforcement raids.
asserted
clip → use → raids
The song has since been removed from the post, but the video is still visible on the White House's TikTok feed.
asserted
video → remove → feed
The video is captioned "never ending deportations", riffing on Larsson's lyrics "never-ending midnight sun".
asserted
video → caption → lyrics
In a three-minute reaction video posted on social media, Larsson described the clip as "dehumanising", joining a growing list of singers, including Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande, who have told the Trump administration to not use their music.
asserted
who → post → music
The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.
asserted
BBC → contact → comment
The reel splices together multiple videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, as well as other US law enforcement personnel, handcuffing men and putting them into vehicles.
asserted
reel → splice → vehicles
Larsson reposted part of the original clip, which then cuts to a selfie video of her using her fingers to hold an 'L' shape against her forehead.
asserted
her → reposte → forehead
In the reaction video that has already clocked up more than 4.2 million views on TikTok, she tells her followers the White House video is "so dehumanising".
asserted
video → clock → followers
Larsson continues: "These people in this video – they're real people."
asserted
they → continue → video
"The vast majority of these people who are undocumented are regular people with jobs and they're just trying to have a better future".
asserted
they → try → future
"It's so crazy how everything is so memefied and so 'ha-ha-ha'," she says, accusing the White House of using her song to sow "division", despite the lyrics reflecting a connection between people and nature, according to Larsson.
uncertain
lyrics → say → Larsson
Earlier this year, Larsson condemned a video of President Donald Trump dancing at various events overlayed with her hit Lush Life.
asserted
Trump → condemn → hit
White House social media accounts have been forced to remove various songs from their feed following interventions from artists.
asserted
accounts → force → artists
Taylor Swift's seasonal track August disappeared from a reel shared by the Trump administration in August, while one of Olivia Rodrigo's songs vanished from a video after the singer condemned its use for what she called "hateful propaganda".
asserted
she → disappear → what
Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande have also warned the Trump administration in separate incidents to not use their music in social media content after the White House posted videos featuring their songs.
asserted
House → warn → songs
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