Green Day have slammed President Donald Trump and Elon Musk at their Download Festival headline set.
The legendary pop-punkers played their first-ever Download set at Donington Park on Friday (June 13). Green Day pulled out hits from their debut album ‘Dookie’ including ‘Basket Case’, along with tracks from their more recent album ‘Saviors‘ such as ‘Dilemma’ and ‘Bobby Sox’ (via Setlist.fm).
However, it was during ‘Holiday’ – which featured on their 2004 classic ‘American Idiot’ – where frontman Billie Joe Armstrong took aim at President Donald Trump. According to Kerrang, the singer asked the crowd to call Trump a “fat bastard”, also telling them: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are slipping into fascism… it’s up to us to fight back!”.
Trump has been slammed for his recent deployment of the National Guard to control protests against the ICE immigration raids sweeping the country.
Meanwhile, Armstrong also hit out against Elon Musk, who was recently involved in a high-profile spat with Trump. Whilst performing the title track of ‘American Idiot’, Armstrong made a tweak to sing: “I’m not a part of the Elon agenda” (via Louder).
Watch Green Day criticise Trump and Musk at their debut Download headline set down below:
Billie Joe Armstrong speaking out against f*scism and Trump’s government during Green Day’s show at Download Festival. Music with a message — always. 👊
🎥 thanks a lot to nunzioloconte_#greenday #downloadfestival #billiejoearmstrong #donaldtrump #trump #maga pic.twitter.com/djA1A20xPS
— Green Day Italy (@GreenDayItaly_) June 14, 2025
@rhianwirtz Green Day’s seminar at Download #greenday #donaldtrump #downloadfestival #download2025
@dailymailuk Green Day lead singer Billie Joe called out the Trump administration during his headline set at Download Festival. #greenday #billiejoearmstrong #donaldtrump
@.vicky600 Punk band doing punk things #punk #download2025 #greenday #downloadfestival
Green Day are not the only ones speaking out against Trump’s actions in the last few weeks.
Finneas has reported that he was tear-gassed at a “peaceful” LA protest, adding: “Fuck ICE”. Meanwhile, Kim Gordon released a remix of her song ‘BYE BYE’ with words that have been banned by the Trump administration such as “advocate”, “climate change”, “female”, “Hispanic”, and “immigrants”.
Doechii also spoke out against Trump whilst accepting an award at the BET Awards 2025, saying: “Trump is using military forces to stop a protest. I want you all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us. What type of government is that?”
Shakira, meanwhile, said that she lives in “constant fear” as an immigrant in the US, whilst Addison Rae added that she was “disappointed and disturbed by what is happening across our nation”. Olivia Rodrigo also attended anti-ICE protests, and took to social media to share: “LA simply wouldn’t exist without immigrants”.
However, OneRepublic frontman and producer Ryan Tedder has criticised the protests against Trump, calling it a “super bummer”.
In other news, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong shares cover of The Beach Boys’ ‘I Get Around’ in tribute to Brian Wilson.