Fact Check: Yes, Donald Trump Did Post He 'I Hate Taylor Swift'

Claim:

A screenshot shared online in mid-September 2024 authentically showed a post on former U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social account reading: "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!"

Rating:

Screenshots of a post on former U.S. President Donald Trump's official Truth Social account in which he allegedly declared "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!" spread across social media on Sept. 15, 2024. 

The screengrabs were shared in various Reddit communities, such as r/WeirdGOP, r/Democrats, and r/WhitePeopleTwitter, the last of which had received more than 22,000 upvotes as of this writing.

(Aaron Rupar on X)

One X user who shared a screenshot of the post wrote "this is real," although others were less convinced of its veracity. One person said: "I can't believe this is real," while another asked: "Is this for real? Has anybody actually verified this?"

The post featured in the screenshot was indeed authentic. It was shared to Trump's Truth Social account at 10:44 a.m. EDT on Sept. 15 and had accumulated more than 50,000 likes as of this writing. 

Even record executive Scooter Braun chimed in to tell Trump to "shake it off" when sharing a screenshot of Trump's post to his Instagram story. (Swift once called Braun "the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry" after he purchased and resold Swift's master recordings, prompting a public feud, lawsuit and Swift's re-recording of her first six albums in an effort to regain control of her catalog.)

(Scooter Braun on Instagram)

The former president's Truth Social post presumably was in response to Swift's much-publicized endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Republican candidate's opponent in the 2024 presidential election. Following Swift's public backing of Harris, Trump told reporters: "She'll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace."

Trump's "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!" post stood in contrast to another message he wrote on Truth Social in August 2024, when he responded to a separate, fake endorsement from Swift — that was partially generated through the use of artificial intelligence — by saying: "I accept!" 

Snopes has fact-checked other claims about Swift's political involvement, including a recent satirical claim about the singer losing $125 million in brand deals after she endorsed Harris, and the false rumor that she subtly backed the vice president in an August 2024 Instagram post. 

Sources:

- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpkFb9-fts. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024.

Dobrin, Nikki. "Did Taylor Swift Use Instagram to Subtly Endorse Harris for President?" Snopes, 9 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/taylor-swift-endorses-kamala-harris/.

Halperin, Shirley. "Scooter Braun Sells Taylor Swift's Big Machine Masters for Big Payday." Variety, 16 Nov. 2020, https://variety.com/2020/music/news/scooter-braun-sells-taylor-swift-big-machine-masters-1234832080/.

Ibrahim, Nur. "Taylor Swift Endorsed Trump in These Viral Images?" Snopes, 19 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/taylor-swift-endorsed-trump/.

Izzo, Jack. "Did Trump Say Taylor Swift Would 'Pay a Price' for Endorsing Harris?" Snopes, 12 Sept. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-taylor-swift-pay-a-price/.

Mier, Tomás. "Scooter Braun Hijacks Trump's 'I Hate Taylor Swift' Post to Endorse Harris." Rolling Stone, 15 Sept. 2024, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/scooter-braun-shares-trump-hate-taylor-swift-post-endorses-harris-1235102703/.