Left-wing rocker Neil Young has filed a $10 million copyright infringement lawsuit against President Donald Trump playing his 1991 hit “Rockin’ in the Free World” at one of his political rallies.
Young has sparred with the president before over the use of his song going all the way back to 2015, threatening him with legal action twice. Though Trump avoided the song during his 2024 campaign, the song once again appeared at the president’s rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on October 12.
The Canadian-born singer has long expressed his antipathy to the man now in the White House.
This time, Young went beyond threatening legal action and filed an actual $10 million lawsuit for copyright infringement.
In the five-page complaint filed in Virginia, Young’s lawyers claim that Trump’s use of the song contrasts with its lyrics and message.
“Rockin’ in the Free World is a blistering anthem that contrasts the hollow promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, homeless and forgotten,” the complaint says. “The lyrics paint vivid street-level portraits – a mother discarding her baby, addicts lost in despair, garbage piling in the shadows of prosperity – while the repeated chorus delivers a savage irony, celebrating freedom that clearly isn’t shared by all. In short, the Song is the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for.”
“Just prior to Trump taking the stage to speak at the Youngstown Rally, the Committee caused Rockin’ in the Free World to be played. On information and belief, the Committee has caused the Song to be played numerous times at other rallies designed to encourage Republican votes in the upcoming mid-term elections,” it continues.
The complaint went on to claim that Trump would know not play the song at his rallies after the 2020 lawsuit against Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
“In 2020 Young sued another corporation formed by Trump, Donald J. Trump For President, Inc., for copyright infringement of Rockin’ in the Free World along with another song written by Young,” the document continues. “Donald J Trump For President, Inc. asserted no defense and immediately settled shortly after it was served, promising that it would never again use Rockin’ in the Free World without a license and permission from Young.”
The White House has not responded to the suit.
It’s funny that Neil Young, who is struggling to remain relevant in 2026, has the audacity to attack President Trump when he himself has made some of the most vicious and hateful remarks against LGBTQ Americans in the past.
In a 1985 interview with the British music magazine Melody Maker, Young made comments about the AIDS epidemic that used a slur and reflected the period’s widespread misinformation linking the disease primarily to gay men. The verified quote includes: “You go to a supermarket and you see a faggot behind the fuckin’ cash register, you don’t want him to handle your potatoes.”
Around 44.2 million people have died from AIDS in the world since the epidemic started in the 1980s. It’s an illness that has affected millions of Americans, and continues to kill 570k people per year globally.
Neil Young’s comments on LGBTQ Americans show that he’s not the ‘hardened, caring leftist’ he pretends to be in public in order to drum up attention for himself. He’s actually a cruel individual.
No matter your feelings about gay people, Young’s comments went over the top, driving into a territory of cruelty towards people with a terminal illness.
Some kind of bleeding heart.
It’s actually quite funny, because ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ was written as an anti-Bush protest song by Neil Young following the Reagan years. There’s actually some public evidence that Young was a supporter of Ronald Reagan during his tenure, though I would take anything this attention-seeking, pathetic individual has said, because you can almost be certain it was said to grab more attention.
I’ve written a New York Times bestselling book, ‘The Bush Crime Family’ detailing the insidious nature of the Bush family dating back decades. Many people gloss over the fact that George H.W. Bush was the CIA Director before becoming Vice President to Ronald Reagan, and was essentially forced onto Ronald Reagan after challenging him in the 1980 Republican Primary. Reagan defeated Bush, and the rest is history.
You can find that book in any Barnes and Noble or on Amazon, but if you want a signed copy, or any of the other merchandise I currently offer, including a signed ‘Stone’ from Roger Stone, be sure to head over to StoneZone.com.
But to get back on track here, Neil Young wrote ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ as an anti-Bush protest song. Does Neil Young remember who President Donald Trump defeated in the 2016 Republican Primary to eventually go on and defeat Hillary Clinton?
It was Jeb Bush.
President Donald Trump represented an end to the Bush Reublican era that Neil Young was protesting when he wrote ‘Rockin’ in the free world,’ yet he wants to sue President Trump for $10 Million for using the song?
Neil Young should be praising Donald Trump. Instead, he spends his life attacking him in order to gain attention for himself.
If you remember, in early 2022, Young publicly demanded that Spotify remove his catalog or drop Joe Rogan’s podcast, accusing the platform of “spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death” via Rogan’s interviews.
Those interviews included guests like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who acted heroically to spread the truth about COVID-19 and the COVID vaccines during the pandemic, Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Peter McCullough, and other licensed medical professionals that voiced skepticism about the restrictions put on Americans during the pandemic, and treatments of COVID-19 in hospitals and other medical settings.
After making a huge fuss about it, granting interviews, attacking Joe Rogan and his guests for daring to speak the truth about COVID, Young quietly returned his music to the platform in 2024. You can actually access Neil Young’s music on Spotify right now, despite his insistence that the platform is ‘evil’ and spreading ‘disinformation.’
Spotify should have refused his request. Young’s flip-flop tells you everything you need to know about his personality. Nothing is sincere, and the almighty dollar comes first.
Former bandmate David Crosby publicly described Young as “probably the most self-centred, self-obsessed, selfish person I know. He only thinks about Neil, period.”
This is the same Neil Young that was correctly put in his place by Lynyrd Skynyrd in their all-time classic song ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’
“I Hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern Man don’t need him around anyhow.”
It was right when Ronnie Van Zant wrote it in 1974, and it’s even truer today. Although, I would say that the American people, not just southerners, don’t need Neil Young around anyhow.
This guy is a truly drug-addicted, bloated carcass. A failure, an embarrassment, and a total disgrace.
