Neil Young Sues Trump Over $10M Song Use

"Rockin' in the Free World" played just before Donald Trump took the stage at an Oct. 12, 2026 Youngstown, Ohio rally. Neil Young has sued Trump 47 Committee Inc. for $10 million in Virginia federal court over that use. The five-page Monday filing also says the committee played the 1989 song at other rallies to encourage Republican midterm votes. The complaint says Trump knew a license was required and Young would not grant one. In 2020 Young sued Donald J. Trump For President, Inc. over this song and "Devil's Sidewalk" after Tulsa and Mount Rushmore events; that case sought $750 to $150,000 per infringement, drew no defense, and settled in December 2020 with a promise never to use the song without Young's permission. Young now says the reuse damaged his reputation and brand by implying he supports Trump. His filing calls the song a blistering anthem of savage irony and "the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for." Young has pushed back since the June 16, 2015 Trump Tower launch. Elliot Roberts told Mother Jones in 2015 the use was unauthorized and that Young backed Bernie Sanders; Young later said the 2015 campaign had a license. He posted on Twitter after Mount Rushmore in 2020 that the use was not okay with him.