Photo Credit: Mehreen Rizvi

During their headline set at the Download Festival, the rock band Green Day slammed President Donald Trump and his Senior Advisor Elon Musk. On June 13, 2025, Green Day played their first-ever Download set at Donington Park. They played some of their iconic hits including “Basket Case” and “Dilemma.” While they were playing “Holiday,” their frontman Billie Joe Armstrong made a dig against Trump. It was not just Armstrong who made a dig, it was their whole crowd as well. Armstrong had asked the crown to call Trump a “fat bastard.” He had also told the crowd, “ladies and gentlemen, we are slipping into fascism… it’s up to us to fight back!” said Armstrong. 

There has been a lot of backlash against Trump in recent days. Mostly because of the deployment of the National Guard to control protests against the ICE immigration and their attempts of raiding the country. There were also protests during his birthday celebration, “No Kings Day,” where many protests happened throughout the country. According to an article by NME, Trump was not the only person Green Day had spoken out against, they also criticized Musk. During their performance of “American Idiot,” Armstrong made a slight change to their lyrics and sang, “I’m not a part of the Elon agenda.” Throughout the 2024 election, Musk had stood by Trump’s side and became his Senior Advisor. Since Trump and Musk had been so close, Musk also faces the backlash that Trump receives.

See posts from the concert:

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 ♬ original sound – Rhian

@.vicky600 Punk band doing punk things #punk #download2025 #greenday #downloadfestival ♬ original sound – 🍒 Vicky