What did Jack White say about Trump’s Oval Office? White House and singer trade jabs over criticism

American musician Jack White is currently feuding with the White House after his recent criticism of Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the POTUS at the Oval Office. On August 18, White reposted the image on Instagram and called Trump “disgusting” for transforming the “historic” building into a “vulgar, gold-leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler's dressing room.”

He continued,

“Can't wait for the UFC match on the front lawn too, he's almost fully achieved the movie ‘Idiocracy.’ Look at his disgusting taste, would you even buy a used car from this conman, let alone give him the nuclear codes?

Jack White went on,

“A gold-plated Trump Bible would look perfect up on that mantle with a pair of Trump shoes on either side, wouldn't it? What an embarrassment to American history. Also pictured in this photograph, a REAL leader of a nation in a black suit – III.”

In response, the White House communications director, Steven Cheung, told the Daily Beast in a statement on August 19, calling Jack White a

“washed-up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career.”

The White Stripes' rock duo member clapped back at Cheung via Instagram on August 20 and claimed Donald Trump is a “danger to not just America but the entire world.” White claimed it wasn’t an exaggeration and that the billionaire politician is “dismantling democracy and endangering the planet on a daily basis, and we all know it.”

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Exploring further Jack White’s ongoing exchange with the White House

On Tuesday, Steven Cheung told The Daily Beast that Jack White has been “masquerading as a real artist” as he “fails to appreciate, and quite frankly disrespects, the splendour and significance of the Oval Office.”

Jack White responded with a lengthy Instagram post the following day. He shared Cheung’s quote alongside posting an image of Donald Trump posing with golden boots.

“I was raised to believe that we defeated fascism in World War II and that we would never allow it again in the world. I don't always state publicly my political opinions, and like anyone, I don't always know all of the facts, but when it comes to this man and this administration, I'm not going to be like one of the silent minority of 1930s Germany,” his caption read.

It also carried a quote from the 26th U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, on the importance of criticizing the President, to save the country and its people from being “unpatriotic and servile” and “morally treasonable” to one another.

In his post, Jack White mentioned how it was “funny” that the White House communications director took issue with him criticizing the Oval Office décor, rather than him calling out the POTUS for his “blatant fascist manipulation of the government, his gestapo ICE tactics, his racist remarks… his attacks on the disabled… his inclusion in the Epstein Files,” and his ignorance of global crisis, among others.

“How petty and pathetic and thin-skinned could this administration get?” White asked.

The musician further thanked the White House administration for giving him his “tombstone engraving,” referring to Cheung’s remark that he was “Masquerading as a real artist.” He also gave his opinion in the same context and claimed that “Trump is masquerading as a human being.”

Jack White also wrote that the U.S. President was seemingly “masquerading” as a Christian, a leader, an empathetic person, and a businessman.

The guitarist-singer called Steven Cheung and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt “professional liar toadies,” who he claimed were “covering up and masking his fascism as patriotism and fomenting hatred and division in this country.”

Calling Trump an “orange grifter” and slamming his domestic and foreign policies, Jack White also called out his supporters.

“So MAGA folk, enjoy your concrete paving over of the rose garden, your 200 million dollar ballroom in the White House, and your gaudy a** gold spray-painted trinkets from Home Depot, cause he ain’t spending any money on helping YOU unless you fit into his white supremacist country club rich idiot agenda,” White added.

White, whose real name is John Anthony Gillis, further described the POTUS as a “conman” and a “low-life fascist,” and mentioned that no “intelligent” individual could defend Trump or his ideologies.

The 50-year-old Detroit native shared that being “insulted by the actual White House” led by Trump was like a “badge of honor” to him, as the President’s entire staff was “villain.”

Jack White concluded by clarifying he is “not a Democrat” but rather a human being, an artist, and an entrepreneur, who has “enough street sense to know when a 3-card monte dealer is a cheap grifter and a thief.”

His Instagram post came with a carousel of images showing Trump with Vice President JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky inside the White House, in front of a cupboard full of his MAGA caps, alongside the one where Donald posed with GOVA snacks.

A picture of the White House’s ongoing renovation, tweets criticizing Trump, posts made by the POTUS on Truth Social, and a survey report finding linking Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein were also uploaded by Jack White.

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This is not the first time White has spoken against Trump. In September last year, he and his now-ex-wife Meg sued the President, accusing him of “flagrant misappropriation” of their White Stripes' 2003 song Seven Nation Army. The lawsuit came after Trump’s deputy director of communications, Margo Martin, used the song in a video post on X that showed Donald, 79, walking out to the tune.

Later, in November 2024, he called Trump an “obvious fascist” and “wannabe dictator” after the latter won the presidential election. During a concert in March 2025, he changed the opening lines of his hit track, Corporation, to ridicule the POTUS.

In 2023, Jack White condemned Mark Wahlberg, Joe Rogan, Guy Fieri, and Mel Gibson for associating themselves with and endorsing Donald Trump.