"Donald Trump" is a song by American rapper

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

, released as the only single from his

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

Best Day Ever "Best Day Ever" is the first segment of the 20th episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', and the 80th episode overall. The episode was written by Nate Cash, Tuck Tucker, and Steven Bank ...

'' (2011). The melody, which is played throughout the song, is

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

from "Vesuvius" by

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

. The song's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on March 3, 2011, while the single was released digitally on May 17, 2011. The money-inspired song references

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, who, five years after the song's release, was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

as the 45th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. Trump and Miller feuded over the song for years, with Trump demanding

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

for the use of his name.

Background

After performing the song for several weeks,

released "Donald Trump" as a free download on February 9, 2011. Its

, directed by Ian Wolfson, was uploaded to

on March 3, 2011. The song was included in Miller's 2011

'', and commercially released by

Rostrum Records Rostrum Records is an American independent record label initially located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, now located in Los Angeles, California. Benjy Grinberg is the founder and president of the label, which currently has twelve artists on its ros ...

as a single on May 17, 2011. The money-inspired song refers to

, particularly Miller's ambitions to become wealthy and successful like him ("Take over the world when I'm on my Donald Trump shit / Look at all this money, ain't that some shit?"). According to Miller, the use of Trump's name was a last-minute decision, and that he "was just somebody who symbolized financial success to everybody at that time". When the music video surpassed 20 million views in August 2011, Trump released a YouTube video congratulating Miller, and branded him "the new

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

". Miller responded appreciatively, but played down any comparisons between himself and Eminem. As the song garnered more streams in 2012, Trump took a more aggressive tone and demanded

for using his name, igniting a feud with Miller. In a January 2013 interview, Miller insulted Trump and said he was bothered by Trump taking credit for the song's success. He added that he could have referenced

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

instead and that the name did not matter. In response, Trump threatened Miller with a lawsuit via a series of tweets. In July 2015, Trump changed his attitude toward Miller again when he ended an interview by praising Miller's song as it approached 100 million views. During Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Miller denounced Trump and urged people to not elect him. Miller said on ''

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' is a 2015–16 American late-night panel talk show hosted by Larry Wilmore that aired for two seasons on Comedy Central. The show was a spin-off of ''The Daily Show'', which featured Wilmore as a recurri ...

'' that he "hated" Trump, and described him as "an egomaniacal, attention-thirsty, psychopathic, power-hungry, delusional waste of skin and bones".

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s Nick Catucci called the track an "irresistible bro-down".

Chart performance

"Donald Trump" was Miller's first song to chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, entering at number 80 on chart dated June 11, 2011, and peaked at number 75 on January 7, 2012. On March 19, 2013, it was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for digital download sales in excess of one million. The song also charted in SNEP, the official French Singles Chart, peaking at number 110 in June 2012.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

Lyrics of "Donald Trump" by Mac Miller at Genius
{{authority control 2011 songs 2011 debut singles Songs about Donald Trump Mac Miller songs Song recordings produced by Sap (producer) Songs written by Mac Miller Sufjan Stevens