Karoline Leavitt has risked President Donald Trump’s ire by revealing that she loves pop star Taylor Swift.
The White House press secretary revealed her most-streamed artists on the platform Spotify on Wednesday, with Swift coming in fifth. Country star Morgan Wallen took Leavitt’s top spot, with Christian crooner Forrest Frank second. Third and fourth spots were taken by Christian worship singers Brandon Lake and Anne Wilson, respectively. The results were shared on the 28-year-old’s Instagram stories.
But the fifth spot was the most eyebrow-raising, owing to Swift’s numerous run-ins with the president. Leavitt, as his spokesperson in chief, has been dragged into their tiffs.
The last flashpoint came in August, when Trump praised actress Sydney Sweeney after he found out she was a registered Republican. The backdrop to his praise was the fallout from Sweeney’s controversial “great jeans” campaign for American Eagle.
He called it the “HOTTEST ad out there” and contrasted it with a “woke” rebrand by Jaguar that featured a pink electric car and an advertisement full of androgynous-looking models. This, somehow, brought him on to Taylor Swift, who has made no secret of her left-leaning political stance.
“Just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift. Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!). She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT,” Trump, who was himself booed at an NFL game last month, wrote on Truth Social.
Asked about this post in a press conference by Fox News’ Peter Doocy, Leavitt laughed and criticized the 14-time Grammy winner. “What does President Trump mean when he says that Taylor Swift is no longer hot?” Doocy asked.
“Look, he is speaking about Taylor Swift’s political views and how perhaps it has impacted the support of the American public for her work, and I will leave it at that,” she said, unwilling to trash her guilty pleasure too much.
Trump started “hating” Swift after she endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. “I hate Taylor Swift,” he said days after the endorsement.
He has since, seemingly unprovoked, brought up the megastar several times.
Leavitt, too, has a bit of history with Swift. After the “Opalite” singer seemed to endorse Joe Biden in 2024, Trump’s press secretary told right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson: “This woman has made a career off of writing songs about picking the wrong guy. We should not trust her to pick the wrong guy in this presidential election.”
