White House blasts Neil Young’s ‘cringe’ song slamming Trump’s DC crime crackdown

The White House spokeswoman said Neil Young hurt his legacy and claimed DC had benefited from Trump’s crime crackdown with violent crime down 44%
PUBLISHED AUG 30, 2025
Neil Young has released a new song criticising President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
Neil Young has released a new song criticising President Donald Trump (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: Rock legend Neil Young dropped a new song Thursday, August 28, taking direct aim at President Donald Trump, accusing his White House of fueling “big crime” in Washington, DC.

“No more great again,” Young belts in the track, titled 'Big Crime'. “There’s big crime in DC at the White House.”

Neil Young performs in concert during Farm Aid 2024 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on September 21, 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)
Neil Young performs in concert during Farm Aid 2024 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on September 21, 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York (Gary Miller/Getty Images)

Trump spokesperson calls Neil Young’s track 'cringe'

The 78-year-old liberal rocker crooned, “Don’t need no fascist rules! Don’t want no fascist schools! Don’t want soldiers walking on our streets! There’s big crime in DC at the White House!”

Young calls for “no money to the fascists, the billionaire fascists,” insisting it’s “time to black out the system.”

The Trump team wasn’t exactly impressed with his lyrical assault.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson clapped back in a statement to Fox News. “Instead of tarnishing his legacy with cringe songs, Neil should spend some time talking to the DC residents who haven’t been victims of violent crime thanks to President Trump. Then he can decide if he really wants to criticize actions that have reduced violent crime already by 44%," she said.

Donald Trump’s crime crackdown

The feud comes as President Trump’s controversial decision to deploy National Guard troops and federal oversight of the Metropolitan Police Department has shaken up the crime-ridden capital.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser was initially worried about the federal takeover, but admitted this week the surge has had a noticeable effect.

Members of the military stand guard alongside a military Humvee at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on August 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Trump Administration placed the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the District to assist in crime prevention in the nation’s capital. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Members of the military stand guard alongside a military Humvee at the US Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on August 12, 2025, in Washington, DC. The Trump Administration placed the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the District to assist in crime prevention in the nation’s capital (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

At a press conference on Wednesday, she revealed that carjackings (which she labeled the city’s “most troubling” crime last year) have plummeted by a staggering 87% in the 20 days since the crackdown began.

Overall, crime is also down 15% compared to the same stretch last year.

“We know that when carjackings go down, when use of guns goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer, so this surge has been important to us,” Bowser told reporters.

She gave Trump some reluctant credit, saying she’s been “personally engaged” with Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Still, the Democrat drew a hard line on immigration agents and military personnel roaming DC streets, bluntly saying their presence is “not working.”

“We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city,” she said, but warned that residents are also “living in fear.”

Liberals split on Donald Trump’s strategy

Even Trump’s fiercest critics admit crime in DC has become a powder keg politically.

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough confessed earlier this month that the move could improve quality of life, even if the narrative sounds different on social media.


NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 28: Joe Scarborough speaks at the Global Citizen NOW Summit at The Glasshouse on April 28, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen)
Joe Scarborough speaks at the Global Citizen NOW Summit at The Glasshouse on April 28, 2023, in New York City (Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

“I actually heard from a reporter when this happened, going, ‘Well, you know, if he doesn’t overreach, this could actually be a good thing for quality of life,’ etc, because in DC right now, I had this happen to my family and I had that, and they go down the list,” Scarborough said. “And then I saw him tweet something completely different.”

Scarborough admitted the nation’s capital isn’t as dangerous as it was a couple of years back but cautioned, “It’s certainly not as safe as the nation’s capital should be.”

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 25: Travelers arrive alongside patrolling National Guard soldiers at Union Station on August 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation's capital. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Travelers arrive alongside patrolling National Guard soldiers at Union Station on August 25, 2025 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

His MSNBC colleague Symone Sanders-Townsend, meanwhile, stressed a different perspective. She said her lived experience guides her skepticism.

As a "Black woman in America,” she explained, “I do not always think that more police make streets safer.”

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