Zara Larsson calls White House ‘losers’ over ICE video using her song

Swedish pop star Zara Larsson lashed out at the White House this week, calling officials “f—-ing losers” after the administration used her song “Midnight Sun” in a TikTok video showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detaining and restraining a group of men.

The clip, posted to the White House’s official TikTok account, carried the caption “Never ending deportations” — an apparent play on the song’s lyric “never ending midnight sun” — and showed roughly a dozen men in handcuffs and leg restraints.

Ms. Larsson responded in her own TikTok video, saying the footage left her “really sad” and accusing the administration of dehumanizing the people shown. She pointed to one man in the video wearing construction clothing and argued, more broadly, that undocumented immigrants are often ordinary people with jobs “trying to have a better future,” closing her message with a blunt verdict: “You guys are such f——-g losers. Like, it’s crazy.”

She also questioned the choice of song, saying “Midnight Sun” was written to be about connection with nature and other people, not division.

Not the first clash

This is the second time this year that the White House has used one of Ms. Larsson’s songs in connection with immigration enforcement messaging. In January, President Trump posted a TikTok video of himself dancing to Ms. Larsson’s earlier hit “Lush Life,” captioning it with pro-ICE messaging. Swedish outlet Sweden Herald, citing Aftonbladet, reported that the post amounted to an endorsement of deportations aimed at Ms. Larsson, following her earlier criticism of ICE; the outlet’s account is a translation from Swedish reporting and is not a verified direct English quote from Mr. Trump.

Ms. Larsson has been an outspoken critic of ICE for months. In January, she drew backlash from Trump supporters after posting that she “loves criminals” alongside a list of left-wing political stances. She later clarified that the comment referred to her boyfriend, Swedish dancer Lamin Holmén, whose past cannabis-related conviction in Sweden has barred him from entering the United States.

A broader pattern

Ms. Larsson joins a growing list of musicians who have objected to the Trump administration using their music in social media posts promoting immigration enforcement, including Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo.

Pop star Ariana Grande criticized the White House in June after it used her 2024 song “Bye” in a similar TikTok video depicting ICE arrests. Ms. Grande wrote in the comments that the administration should stop associating her music with what she called “barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the agency’s messaging at the time, telling reporters that “the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens” were the real source of harm, not the videos highlighting their arrests.

The White House had not issued a public response to Ms. Larsson’s comments as of this writing.