The song is the latest offering from Springsteen, who has heavily criticized Trump’s policies since he was first elected in 2016.

Trump administration slams Bruce Springsteen’s ‘irrelevant’ anti-ICE protest song

The song is the latest offering from Springsteen, who has heavily criticized Trump's policies since he was first elected in 2016.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

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January 29, 2026 3:29 p.m. ET

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Bruce Springsteen performs at the AFI FEST 2025. Credit:

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

Bruce Springsteen's new protest song is getting rave reviews from music lovers and activists alike, but the White House is definitively not a fan.

Springsteen released the song, titled "Streets of Minneapolis," on Wednesday, which boasts lyrics condemning the presence and actions of federal immigration enforcement in the city, and calls out "King Trump" and his "federal thugs." The song also narrates the killings of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by federal agents this month.

"I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis," the 76-year-old rocker wrote on Bluesky alongside the single's release. "It's dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free."

Bruce Springsteen performs at Decathlon Arena on May 24, 2025.

Sébastien Courdji/Getty

Saturday was the same day immigration agents killed Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, during a confrontation. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7, with both occurrences going viral on social media.

Their deaths are the latest to gain national attention as at least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 amid Donald Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown, making it the agency's deadliest year in two decades, per The American Prospect.

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In response to Springsteen's song making headlines, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told ** in a statement that "the Trump administration is focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities — not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information."

Jackson added, "The media should cover how Democrats have refused to work with the Administration, and instead, opted to provide sanctuary for these criminal illegals."

Springsteen released a new video for the song, directed by longtime collaborator Thom Zimny, on Thursday. The video features scenes on the ground in Minneapolis and studio performance shots of Springsteen. Pam Springsteen, the Boss' sister, is credited with production footage along with Zimny.

Donald Trump; Bruce Springsteen.

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Karwai Tang/WireImage

Springsteen, who has written politically driven music for decades, has been heavily critical of Trump since he was first elected in 2016. Their spat was renewed with Trump's second term, with the "Dancing in the Dark" singer dubbing the current administration as "corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous" during the opening night of his Land of Hope and Dreams tour in Manchester last May.

"Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us," Springsteen told his crowd at the time. "Raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring."

The president fired back at the musician a day later on Truth Social, calling him a "dried-out 'prune' of a rocker" and stating that he "never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics."

Watch the video for Springsteen's "Streets of Minneapolis" above.**

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