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President Donald Trump used his downtime on Air Force One on Friday to insult “obnoxious jerk” Bruce Springsteen and declare Taylor Swift “no longer HOT” in social media blasts against the music giants.

Trump — returning from a whirlwind Middle East diplomatic trip — took to his Truth Social platform to feud with Springsteen, who this week told a British concert audience that his homeland is now ruled by a “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.”

In return, the 78-year-old president said the legendary rocker, nicknamed “the Boss,” is “Highly Overrated.”

“Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK,” Trump wrote in the lengthy tirade.

“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’. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!”

While in Manchester on his ‘Land of Hope & Dreams tour Wednesday, Springsteen told fans that “my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years“ is in danger.

In a video from his UK concert, Springsteen can be heard saying, “There’s some very weird, strange, and dangerous sh*t going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.”

It’s unclear what Springsteen was specifically referring to, but the Trump administration’s attempted deportation of the Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil — a permanent legal resident of the US — sparked widespread outrage and protests in March. Khalil was targeted because of his association with the anti-Israel protests at Columbia.

“In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction, and abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now,” Springsteen went on to say.

In March, Trump shuttered the US Agency for International Development (USAID), cancelling 83 per cent of its programmes, folding the rest under the Department of State, and reducing the agency’s 10,000-person workforce to just 15 positions.

“They’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society,” said the singer.

Trump has signed several executive orders related to civil rights, including one early in his administration that eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government. Another order required agencies to recognise only two sexes — male and female.

More recently, Trump signed an order to repeal or amend provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, claiming the change “guarantees equality of opportunity, not equal outcomes.”

“They’re abandoning their allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom,” Springsteen added. In February, Vice President JD Vance used his speech at the Munich Security Conference to aggressively criticise European allies, stating that the biggest threat to their security was “from within,” not from China or Russia.

“They’re defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands,” Springsteen continued.

In March, Trump announced that he wanted to cut federal funding for colleges that allow what he called “illegal protests.” He pulled $400 million from Columbia University, accusing it of failing to protect Jewish students. It was the epicentre of pro-Palestinian protests last year.

In April, Trump officials cut about $2.3 billion in federal funds to Harvard University after it resisted White House demands to shut down diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes. He also froze funds for Cornell and Northwestern after similar protests.

“They’re removing residents off American streets, and without due process of law are deporting them to foreign detention centres and prisons. This is all happening now,” said Springsteen at his concert.

Last month, the US Supreme Court issued a brief order preventing the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan immigrants without due process. According to an emergency application filed by ACLU lawyers, the administration had begun moving these immigrants to a Texas detention facility without giving legal reasons.

Trump also had strong words for Swift, who endorsed Biden’s replacement as the Democratic candidate in 2024, Kamala Harris. In a separate post, which provided no context, the US president said: “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I hate Taylor Swift,’ she’s no longer ‘hot?’” He appeared to be referencing a post in September last year when he declared “I hate Taylor Swift!”