Singer Kenny Loggins is demanding that President Donald Trump remove his song from an outlandish AI-generated clip showing him dumping sludge on “No Kings” protesters.
Loggins, 77, made clear in a statement that he never granted permission for Trump to use his hit 1986 single “Danger Zone” in the clip, which also features the 79-year-old president wearing a crown and piloting a jet emblazoned with “King Trump.”
“This is an unauthorized use of my performance of ‘Danger Zone,’” he said. “Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately.
The Everett, Washington, native continued: “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together. We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’—that’s not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It’s all of us. We’re in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us.”
The Daily Beast asked the White House for comment on Loggins’ statement about the president’s use of “Danger Zone,” which was featured in the movie Top Gun. In response, a White House spokesperson emailed a screengrab of Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards from the 1986 film that included the text, “I feel the need for speed.”
Trump appears to have been paying homage to the film by choosing the song and placing himself in a fighter jet.
The president’s video shows him flying over New York City and unloading what appears to be several tons of mysterious brown sludge on protesters. The first person struck is 23-year-old liberal influencer Harry Sisson, whose following has spiked in MAGA 2.0.
Loggins has not been an outspoken critic of Trump this year, though the “Footloose” singer did mock the president in the 2016 parody film Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie, which featured an original song by him.
Trump has attacked Democrats relentlessly using AI in the last few weeks, repeatedly sharing a clip showing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero.
Also this month, Trump shared an AI-generated music video set to Blue Öyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” that featured Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as the titular reaper.
Other Republicans are following in the president’s footsteps. On Friday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released an attack against Schumer that used AI to make him talk while “staring” creepily into the camera. It was swiftly condemned online.
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