The Drama Between Donald Trump And Bruce Springsteen, Explained

Call it The Battle of the Bosses. Donald Trump, who transformed from a businessman to the one-time leader of the free world, has prominent fans in the music industry. Jason Aldean, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, and Ye are among the singers hoping the 45th president will soon become the 47th. On the other end of the spectrum, Trump has had an ongoing beef with one particular rock icon — Bruce Springsteen — for several years. It hasn't reached Kendrick Lamar-vs.-Drake level yet, but the bad blood still doesn't show any sign of slowing the flow.

In 2019, during a rally in Minnesota for his second presidential run, Trump bragged to the cheering crowd about winning the Oval Office in 2016 despite not having the backing of A-list singers like Beyoncé and Jay-Z. He added, "And I didn't need little Bruce Springsteen." It's a strategy Trump often uses: calling his opponents "little" to demean them. In an interview with "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King, The Boss laughed at the fact the president was mocking him three years after the election. He then took a more serious tone as he added, "The stewardship of the nation is — has been thrown away to somebody who doesn't have a clue as to what that means. ... And unfortunately, we have somebody who I feel doesn't have a grasp of the deep meaning of what it means to be an American."

Harsh words from the "Born in the USA" singer, and he would soon get harsher yet.

An already polarized country became even more so in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic swept through America. Then-president Trump was widely criticized for not doing more early on to help stop the spread of the virus, and for letting states set their own policies rather than taking a national approach. Among the most vocal critics was Bruce Springsteen, who sounded off on his Sirius XM podcast more than once. In one episode, Springsteen mourned the virus's death toll and the administration's reaction (via YouTube). "Those lives deserve better than being inconvenient statistics for our president's re-election efforts," he said, adding a rebuke to Trump personally. "With all respect, sir, show some consideration and some care for your countrymen and your country. Put on a f***ing mask!"

The singer jabbed even harder in the days before the presidential election. Calling Trump "a con man from Queens" and "the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime," he marveled how the POTUS got into office by "some jingoism, some phony patriotism, fear of a Black planet, vanity, narcissism, paranoia [and] conspiracy theories" (via USA Today). He called for "an exorcism in our country," and his wish came true. 

Come January 2021, The Boss was singing quite a different tune — literally. By special invitation, Springsteen played at Joe Biden's inauguration concert, singing his 2012 number "The Land of Hopes and Dreams." 

Donald Trump has made much subtler attacks on Bruce Springsteen than the ones the singer has lobbed at him. He likes to compare his popularity to the singer's by the number of people they attract. He did it at the 2019 Minnesota rally, and again in May 2024 when he made a campaign stop in Wildwood, N.J., a popular Jersey Shore resort town. It was a surprising move for Trump, who prefers to stump in conservative areas. But lest we forget, Springsteen is a beloved son of the Garden State.

 With the boardwalk in the background, Trump surveyed the crowd and said, "If some of these wackos came along [to a rally], you know, these liberal singers, they'd actually vote for me. You know, like Bruce Springsteen. We have a much bigger crowd than Bruce Springsteen. Right?" (via Asbury Park Press. However, Trump's claim of a 100,000-person attendance at the event may have been a wee bit exaggerated. Per Newsweek, Jesse Watters of Fox News put the number closer to 30,000. And even the faithful didn't stay long: A commenter on X (formerly Twitter) posted a clip showing much of the crowd left while Trump was still speaking. The Asbury Park Press pointed out Springsteen brought in 180,000 fans at his last Jersey concert series.

Springsteen didn't respond to the Wildwood claims, but that doesn't mean the feud is over. It wouldn't be surprising to see him join the celebrities commenting on Trump's guilty verdict in the hush money fraud trial, for instance.