Donald Trump Faces Potential Lawsuit Over Rally Music

Donald Trump used a song by English rock band the Smiths at a rally in South Dakota—and he could face a lawsuit because of it.

The former president has been victorious recently. He scored a convincing win in the Republican Iowa caucus on January 15, beating Ron DeSantis by 51 percent of the vote versus 21.2 percent, shortly after which the Florida governor dropped out and endorsed the former president.

Eight days later, Trump also won the New Hampshire primary, though by a narrower margin, with 54.3 percent of the vote against 43.3 percent for Nikki Haley. This has cemented Trump's position as the favorite to clinch the 2024 Republican nomination.

However, he could soon find himself in hot water as footage has been shared online of him using "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" by the Smiths at the South Dakota Republican Party rally in Rapid City on September 9, 2023.

The video was posted to X (formerly Twitter) by Soorin Kimm, the 2024 Campaign Reporter for the ABC, on January 24, 2024. "You actually hear the Smiths more often than you'd think at 2024 Trump rallies," she wrote. At the time of writing, her post had been viewed 9.1 million times.

On the same day the band's guitarist, Johnny Marr, retweeted the post and added: "Ahh...right...OK. I never in a million years would've thought this could come to pass. Consider this s*** shut right down right now."

Now Mike Burgess, an independent music rights adviser with experience in U.K. copyright law, has told Newsweek Trump could be facing a lawsuit. He clarified that while there are important and distinct differences between territories, Burgess said it may be possible for Johnny Marr and the Smiths to seek an injunction of some form in the U.S.

Newsweek contacted a spokesperson for Trump and Morrissey, the former singer of the Smiths, for comment Friday. Marr declined to comment.

Burgess explained that this could be done if it can be argued that repeated usage of the same song—or potentially the Smiths catalog as a whole—is insinuating what is commonly known as "passing off."

"I.e. that the public could interpret that Trump making use of the song is some form of approved association by the writers and performers of the song with Trump's campaign and/or political beliefs," he said.

"Furthermore, Johnny Marr will have some form of Moral Rights under U.S. law (as we have in the UK), which would also grant him some right to object to what he would argue is a derogatory use of his work.

"Such rights exist so that if a party has a genuine objection to the use of their name, image or likeness, they can legally protest this and actions must be taken to prevent this from reoccurring."

This isn't the only time that Trump has found himself having to face the music because of his rallies. In May 2023, the disco group Village People sent Trump a cease-and-desist letter contesting a performance of their song "Macho Man" at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

In the letter sent by band manager Karen Willis, Village People alleged Trump "allowed a group of individuals dressed as Village People" to perform that song and others. Videos of the performance began spreading on social media, leading some to "mistakenly believe" that the group itself performed at the event, the letter said.

Village People alleged the "imitation performance" violated U.S. trademark law and asked Trump's campaign to stop using the band's image moving forward. If the campaign did not oblige, the band said it would pursue legal action.

Trump's 2024 presidential campaign did not respond to Newsweek's emailed request for comment.

Village People aren't the only artists who have objected to Trump's use of their music. Several artists, including Neil Young, Adele, Rihanna and Elton John, asked Trump during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns to stop playing their music at campaign events. Some objected because their political views opposed those held by Trump; others said their music simply had no place in American politics.

Update 1/29/24 5:56 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include further information on Mike Burgess' professional background.