Bruce Springsteen is doubling down on his stance that the United States government is “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous,” even after his remarks on the subject at a Manchester concert infuriated President Donald Trump last week.
One week after criticizing the Trump administration during a speech at his European tour kickoff show in England — leading the twice-impeached POTUS to launch into a series of vitriolic posts targeting him on Truth Social — the Boss has released a Land of Hopes & Dreams EP featuring a recording of the address as its opening track. “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” he says in the audio snippet. “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”
The rocker then dives into 2001’s “Land of Hopes & Dreams,” which is also the name Springsteen’s ongoing tour.
In addition to the politically charged speech, the six-track project also features live takes of the musician and his band performing “Long Walk Home,” “My City of Ruins” and “Chimes of Freedom” in Manchester. There’s also a three-and-a-half-minute recording of Springsteen once again critiquing the state of American politics later in the show.
“In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on American workers, they’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and moral society,” he says in the clip. “They’re abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom.”
The EP comes shortly after Trump responded to Springsteen’s onstage remarks by calling him “highly overrated” and “dumb as a rock” on Truth Social, adding at the time, “This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’”
Later, the billionaire accused the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer — along with Beyoncé, Oprah and Bono — of taking part in an “illegal election scam” for Kamala Harris, alleging that he accepted an undisclosed payment from the 2024 Democratic nominee to endorse her for president. (Campaign finance records do not support this claim, and Harris’ campaign has denied paying any artist for their support in last year’s election.)
Trump still hadn’t let the matter go as of Wednesday, when he shared an edited video of himself golfing — and appearing to hit and knock over Springsteen with his ball — on Truth Social hours after the Land of Hopes & Dreams EP dropped.
But despite Trump’s counters, Springsteen hasn’t ever backed down on his firm stance against the president’s policies. The E Street bandleader has long been vocal about his beliefs, telling The Atlantic in 2020 that he believed Trump — who in May 2024 was convicted of 34 felony counts in a hush money trial — to be a “threat to our democracy.”
Also in 2024, Springsteen proudly endorsed Harris and played at a number of her campaign events. He also appeared in an advertisement for the former VP’s campaign, telling viewers, “This election is about a group of folks who want to fundamentally undermine our American way of life … Donald Trump does not understand this country, its history, or what it means to be deeply American.”
