Joan Baez‘s satirical poem about President Trump has prompted quite the icy response from the White House. Her poem, “Little Green Worm: A Note To The President,” imagines a worm eating away at President Donald Trump’s brain, leaving him devoid of empathy and impulse control. According to NME, the poem serves as a protest against the Trump administration’s ICE raids targeting immigrant communities. It also follows Baez’s 2024 poetry collection When You See My Mother, Ask Her To Dance, which marked her first major literary release in decades.

Drawing inspiration from Trump’s Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has publicly claimed that a worm once ate part of his brain, Baez uses the image as a metaphor. “Since you are so comfortable / Hiring people whose minds have / Been hollowed out by worms,” she writes, “I’ve been thinking about / A little green worm that has / Worked its way into / Your anterior insular cortex.” The poem ends with a sharp jab, “What’s a little green worm to do / But munch on to the cerebrum… / For all the functions that make up basic intelligence / But oh shit, there’s nothing there.”

NME stated that when asked by The Independent to comment on Baez’s poem, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung offered nothing but a dismissive reply, “Who is Joan Baez?”

The remark quickly sparked reactions across social media, with fans and commentators noting the irony of a top White House official feigning ignorance of one of America’s most celebrated protest artists.