--- title: Trump Inauguration: Madonna Says 'We Can Only Go Up' description: Madonna said Thursday that the United States has "gone as low as we can go" with the election of Donald Trump canonical: https://time.com/4640667/madonna-donald-trump-inauguration-election/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-20T13:57:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:49:36.383Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Madonna on Donald Trump's Inauguration: 'We Can Only Go Up From Here' og:description: "He's actually doing us a great service because we have gone as low as we can go" og:url: https://time.com/4640667/madonna-donald-trump-inauguration-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2612ae3ddbd1675b/6988b654ab6d772bc26ac8bb/madonna-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Billboard Women In Music 2016 - Inside og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Madonna on Donald Trump's Inauguration: 'We Can Only Go Up From Here' twitter:description: "He's actually doing us a great service because we have gone as low as we can go" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2612ae3ddbd1675b/6988b654ab6d772bc26ac8bb/madonna-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Madonna on Donald Trump's Inauguration: 'We Can Only Go Up From Here'  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 20, 2017 1:57 PM UTC  Madonna speaks on stage at the Billboard Women in Music 2016 event on Dec. 9, 2016 in New York City. Madonna speaks on stage at the Billboard Women in Music 2016 event on Dec. 9, 2016 in New York City.Kevin Mazur—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 20, 2017 1:57 PM UTC Madonna said Thursday that the United States has “gone as low as we can go” with the election of [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4640005/donald-trump-inauguration-test/?xid=homepage). “He’s actually doing us a great service, because we have gone as low as we can go,” Madonna said Thursday, speaking at a Brooklyn event about art and protest on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, [according to Billboard](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7662428/madonna-slams-donald-trump-low). “We can only go up from here, so what are we going to do? We have two choices, destruction and creation. I chose creation.” The pop icon [supported Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4562276/madonna-surprise-concert-hillary-clinton/) for president and was a vocal critic of Trump during his campaign. “It’s really important to make a stand and speak my mind about the importance of women and women empowering themselves and believing in themselves and understanding their worth,” she said in an [interview with Billboard](http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/women-in-music/7616926/madonna-women-in-music-red-carpet-interview-video-hillary-clinton) after Election Day. She echoed that sentiment at Thursday’s event, tying her political beliefs to feminism. “I believe that women have the right to be treated with the same human rights as men,” she said, according to Billboard. “I feel like we are still very far behind.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4640667/madonna-donald-trump-inauguration-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4640667/madonna-donald-trump-inauguration-election/"},"headline":"Madonna on Donald Trump's Inauguration: 'We Can Only Go Up From Here'","datePublished":"2017-01-20T13:57:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:49:36.383Z","description":"\"He's actually doing us a great service because we have gone as low as we can go\"","url":"https://time.com/4640667/madonna-donald-trump-inauguration-election/","keywords":["celebrities","Donald Trump","inauguration","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2612ae3ddbd1675b/6988b654ab6d772bc26ac8bb/madonna-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2612ae3ddbd1675b/6988b654ab6d772bc26ac8bb/madonna-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Billboard Women In Music 2016 - Inside","caption":"Billboard Women In Music 2016 - Inside","creditText":"Kevin Mazur—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4640667/madonna-donald-trump-inauguration-election/","name":"Madonna on Donald Trump's Inauguration: 'We Can Only Go Up From Here'"}}]}] ```