Taylor Swift urged to perform at Trump’s inauguration: ‘Would be smart’

Fox News host Laura Ingraham has called on pop star Taylor Swift to perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration to make amends for her failure to support him in the November election.

After the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump in September, Swift announced her support for Harris in an Instagram post. The singer has a loyal following of Swifties – many of them young women – who were a key group in the election.

Unfortunately for Harris voters, Trump won the election and will be sworn in for his second term as president on January 20, 2025. During an episode of her show The Ingraham Anglethe TV host suggested Swift call Trump.

Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Swift, Ingraham and Trump outside of normal business hours on Friday seeking comment.

“The angle has some advice for them: Call Trump and offer to perform at the inauguration. “This would be smart for Taylor Swift and another great moment of unity for the country,” Ingraham said during her show on Thursday.

A video excerpt of the comments was uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) by user @Acyn, senior digital editor of MeidasTouch, a news site critical of Trump. At the time of writing, it has been viewed more than 252,000 times. People took to the comments to criticize the idea, with some criticizing Trump and others criticizing Swift.

“‘It would be wise for Taylor Swift’ is a fascist phrase for ‘Let’s not come after you, little miss.’ She won’t do it, but how great would it be if Taylor Swift held a huge concert in DC on Inauguration Day just to take *all the attention* away from TFG,” one person wrote. “TFG” is an acronym for “The Former Guy,” which rose to prominence after his election defeat in 2020.

“Trump can only get Kid Rock at this point. Or the Village People (who spoof him). With Kim Guilfoyle as a backup dancer,” another wrote, referring to Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to Greece.

“After all the billions #TaylorSwift made from her Eras tour, why would she tarnish/tarnish her brand with such an association? That would be a terrible move on their part,” another X user commented.

“Trump supporters don’t like Swift. Hard pass,” said another.

A fifth person added: “Swift doesn’t need advice from Ingraham, especially on her career moves.”

However, others voiced their support for the idea, with one X user writing: “The talented Laura Ingraham just recommended Taylor Swift to perform at Trump’s inauguration as a show of unity. I think that’s a great idea.”

“Oh my God. Laura Ingraham just suggested that Taylor Swift should ask to perform at the inauguration (sic)! Hell yes!” said another.

While Ingraham might think Swift’s appearance at the event would be a good idea, there is bad blood between the former president and the singer. A week after Swift endorsed Harris, Trump took to Truth Social to say he hated the singer, writing in all caps: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”

Trump’s campaign previously shared artificial intelligence-generated images that showed Swift and her fans as Trump supporters – images that Swift cited as a reason for her public support of Harris. She signed the message “Childless Cat Lady” and included a photo of herself holding her cat, in an apparent reference to comments JD Vance, now the vice president-elect, made in 2021 while leading Democrats described them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies.”

In 2020, Swift supported President Joe Biden and Harris in the election, where the duo defeated Trump.

In May of that year, the “Shake It Off” hitmaker criticized When the protests turned violent, Trump rounded off his post by saying, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

Swift dismissed the statement: Write: “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism throughout your presidency, do you have the courage to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump. “