--- title: Rihanna to Trump: Please Do Stop My Music at Campaign Rally description: Rihanna objected after her song "Don't Stop the Music" was played at a rally for Tennessee Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn canonical: https://time.com/5444498/trump-rally-rihanna/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-05T02:32:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:05:06.887Z og:title: Rihanna to Trump: Please Do Stop My Music at Campaign Rally og:description: President Trump's use of popular music has landed him in hot water again og:url: https://time.com/5444498/trump-rally-rihanna/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30768f51d6165339/69893e43db2987a9042611ac/gettyimages-1045060324.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Fenty Beauty By Rihanna Anniversary Event og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rihanna to Trump: Please Do Stop My Music at Campaign Rally twitter:description: President Trump's use of popular music has landed him in hot water again twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30768f51d6165339/69893e43db2987a9042611ac/gettyimages-1045060324.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rihanna to President Trump: Please Do Stop My Music at Campaign Rally > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=dbe80886-780f-48ac-8a1d-34e0b404e506&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Donald Trump Holds MAGA Rally in Chattanooga [Watch (HLS stream): President Donald Trump Holds MAGA Rally in Chattanooga](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XrigDntt.m3u8) (0:34)  _Published 2018-11-05. President Donald Trump Holds MAGA Rally in Chattanooga_ by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Nov 5, 2018 2:32 AM UTC President Donald Trump Holds MAGA Rally in Chattanooga by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Nov 5, 2018 2:32 AM UTC President Trump’s use of popular music has landed him in hot water again, this time with Rihanna. The superstar singer took to Twitter to protest the fact that her song “Don’t Stop the Music” was reportedly played at a campaign rally Sunday for [Republican Senate candidate](http://time.com/5444194/tennessee-senate-bredesen-blackburn/) Marsha Blackburn in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Sunday. Washington _Post_ White House bureau chief Philip Rucker [tipped](https://twitter.com/philiprucker/status/1059220983440203776) Rihanna off that her hit song had made an appearance at the event. “\[Neither\] me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those [tragic rallies](https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/1059240423091245056),” Rihanna tweeted back at Rucker. “Thanks for the heads up philip \[sic\]!” > [](https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/1059240423091245056) Earlier on Sunday, Rihanna weighed in on another primary race, [endorsing](https://www.instagram.com/p/BpxSvEGh9nh/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed) Democratic candidate [Andrew Gillum](http://time.com/5434734/andrew-gillum-a-hit-dog-will-holler/) for Florida’s governor. “You have the opportunity to make history this election,” Rihanna wrote on Instagram. “The U.S. has only had [four black Governors](http://time.com/5349541/stacey-abrams-georgia/) \[sic\] in its entire history, and we can help make #AndrewGillum the next one and Florida’s first!” Rihanna isn’t the first popular singer to spurn her work’s use at a Trump event. Last week, Pharrell objected after Trump [played his song “Happy”](http://time.com/5438779/pharrell-trump-happy/) at a [rally](http://time.com/5436877/trump-synagogue-armed-guard/?utm%5Fcampaign=time&xid=time%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter&utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fmedium=social) held in Murphysboro, Illinois hours after a [deadly shooting](http://time.com/5436829/multiple-casualties-shooting-pittsburgh-synagogue/) at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. In August, Aerosmith frontman Steve Tyler sent a [cease and desist letter](http://time.com/5375337/steven-tyler-trump-aerosmith-songs-rallies/) to the White House after Trump used the song “Livin’ on the Edge” without permission at a campaign rally in West Virginia. Tyler had previously [asked Trump twice in 2015](http://time.com/4069436/donald-trump-steven-tyler-dream-on/) not to use the band’s hit “Dream On” during the presidential campaign. ## Transcript [00:00] God bless president. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] U S A! [00:02] Where do you begin? Where do you [00:17] begin? 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