Eminem isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind. From violent lyrics to dissing people like Mariah Carey and Machine Gun Kelly, the Detroit rapper has built an identity around his fearlessness and not caring about what anyone thinks of him. That also applies to the president of the United States.
Slim Shady has been outspoken about Donald Trump since his first presidential bid, which saw him in the White House between 2017 and 2021. These days, the businessman and media personality turned politician is back in office, continuing to cause controversy for the same reasons.
During an interview with Vulture in 2017, Em revealed his hatred for Trump. “He makes my blood boil,” he said. “I can’t even watch the news anymore because it makes me too stressed out. All jokes aside, all punch lines aside, I’m trying to get a message out there about him. I want our country to be great too, I want it to be the best it can be, but it’s not going to be that with him in charge.
“I remember when he was first sniffing around politics, I thought, ‘We’ve tried everything else, why not him?’ Then — and I was watching it live — he had that speech where he said Mexico is sending us rapists and criminals. I got this feeling of, ‘What the fuck?’ From that point on, I knew it was going to be bad with him. What he’s doing putting people against each other is scary fucking shit. His election was such a disappointment to me about the state of the country.”
Eminem called Trump a “bitch” on Big Sean’s ‘No Favors’ from his I Decided album in 2017. He rapped in the song, “I’m anti, can’t no government handle a commando/ Your man don’t want it, Trump’s a bitch/ I’ll make his whole brand go under.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg regarding his public disapproval.
While performing in Glasgow that same year, he dissed him again by saying “motherfuck Donald Trump” on stage. “Scotland might have to be our new home because right now shit ain’t going so well in the States,” he said. “And I just want to take this moment right now to say motherfuck Donald Trump.”
With his lyrics, Eminem has been trying to get a response from Trump and is more than prepared for that scenario. “It’s not so much about him hearing something I have to say, because there’s nothing I’m saying about him on Revival that he doesn’t already know about himself,” he said. “It’s more that I want him to answer me because I got ideas for all kinds of shit to say back to him if he does.
“I’m not going to give any away now, but I’ve got lines ready if he says something about me. I get almost flustered thinking about him — that’s how angry he makes me. The people that support him are the people he cares about the least and they don’t even realise it.”