They are, for better or worse, two of the most famous people in the world. On Sunday, they are both expected to attend the biggest television event in North America.
Taylor Swift and Donald Trump have crossed paths before, trading barbs on social media and shaking the entire news cycle loose from its bearings on a regular basis. But at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the pair is expected to physically cross paths in a fascinating split-screen of American culture and influence.
Swift’s attendance has not been confirmed, but she’s expected to be in attendance to watch her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. She attended last year’s big game and celebrated on the field after the Chiefs won their second consecutive championship.
Trump is planning to attend the game, potentially with House Speaker Mike Johnson, according to reports.
Trump heads to New Orleans as the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl (AP Video / Feb. 9, 2025)
Swift and Trump have a tense history.
Trump takes photo with Swift
In 2012, Trump posted to X, then Twitter, thanking Swift for taking a picture with him.
“You are fantastic,” he said in the post.
@taylorswift13 Thanks for the beautiful picture--- you are fantastic!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2012
Trump criticizes Swift after 2018 endorsements
Swift first weighed in on politics in 2018, when she endorsed two Tennessee Democrats in an Instagram post to her then-112 million followers. She said the “past two years” — the first two years of Trump’s first presidency — had changed her decision to steer clear of politics.
Trump was quick to respond. “Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 per cent less now,” he told reporters outside the White House.
Two years later, the Swift documentary “Miss Americana” revealed the behind-the-scenes machinations of that moment. In one scene, Swift said she regretted not coming out against Trump in 2016, “but I can’t change that.” She also called Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn “Trump in a wig.”
Swift sends open letter criticizing Trump
In 2019, Swift sent an open letter urging Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander to vote for the Equality Act, which would have prohibited discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. In it, she said she “personally reject(s)” Trump’s opposition to the bill.
“(The president’s statement) implies that there is something morally wrong with being anything other than heterosexual and cisgender, which is an incredibly harmful message,” she wrote.
After Trump’s George Floyd comments, ‘we will vote you out’
In May 2020, Swift condemned Trump’s tweet about the George Floyd protests, in which he warned “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” — a post that was flagged by Twitter for “glorifying violence.”
Swift countered with her own post. She said Trump had been “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism” during his presidency. “We will vote you out in November,” she said.
After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
Later that year, she accused Trump of dismantling the United States Postal Service. “Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote,” she tweeted.
Swift endorses Biden in 2020
Swift ended up endorsing Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. She told V magazine that America needed a president who represents and protects people of colour, women and the LGBT community.
She also baked Biden-Harris cookies.
I spoke to @vmagazine about why I’ll be voting for Joe Biden for president. So apt that it’s come out on the night of the VP debate. Gonna be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by yelling at the tv a lot. And I also have custom cookies 🍪💪😘
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 7, 2020
📷 @inezandvinoodh pic.twitter.com/DByvIgKocr
‘There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe’
In February 2024, just hours before the Super Bowl, Trump pleaded on Truth Social for Swift to not endorse Biden in that year’s presidential election.
Trump said he was responsible for the Music Modernization Act and endorsing Biden would be “disloyal to the man who made her so much money.”
“Besides that, I like her boyfriend, Travis, even though he may be a Liberal, and probably can’t stand me!”
Trump falsely accepts Swift’s AI endorsement
Three months before the 2024 election, Trump took to Truth Social and falsely implied that Swift had endorsed him for president.
“I accept!” he wrote, alongside images generated by artificial intelligence of fans wearing “Swifties for Trump” shirts.
- Dan Merica And Ali Swenson The Associated Press
Swift endorses Harris — and Trump says ‘I HATE TAYLOR’
The AI images pushed Swift to endorse Kamala Harris for president less than a month later.
“It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter,” Swift posted to Instagram, signing the post “childless cat lady” — a reference to then-vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s dig on Democrats.
The endorsement led to a spike in voter registrations on Vote.org. In response, on Fox & Friends, Trump said he preferred Brittany Mahomes, who is the wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and had reportedly liked — then unliked — a Trump campaign post on Instagram.
Days later, Trump took to Truth Social to bluntly declare: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
Travis Kelce weighs in this week
Kelce — Swift’s boyfriend — said Wednesday that having Trump in attendance at the Super Bowl will be a “great honour.”
“No matter who the president is, I know I’m excited because it’s the biggest game of my life,” Kelce said. “Having the president there, you know, it’s the best country in the world, so that’ll be pretty cool.”
