Sworn enemies Bruce Springsteen and President Donald Trump were both on hand Sunday in New York City to watch the men’s finals at the U.S. Open. The outing marked the first time the singer and president had been in the same place since their public sparring earlier this summer.
The match between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner was delayed nearly 30 minutes Sunday due to security measures that caused traffic issues because of Trump’s presence in the Rolex box, his arrival at Arthur Ashe Stadium drew boos. When the match finally did start, the venue was still less than half full because of the additional screening.
However, as the crowd started settling into their seats, TV cameras spotted Springsteen in attendance, sitting in a celeb-filled section along with Sting, Ben Stiller, and more:
Though Springsteen has been a vocal critic of Trump since he first ran for the presidency in 2015, he really seemed to draw the president’s ire when the songwriter blasted him at the inaugural date of his 2025 European tour.
While onstage, Springsteen took a moment out of his set to rail against Trump, calling the administration “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”
Trump, obviously, reacted in a totally calm and normal way. “Springsteen is ‘dumb as a rock,’” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, “and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? 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!”
Still not over it, three days later, Trump took another shot at Springsteen in an even crazier post that also referenced Bono and Oprah Winfrey. “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT?” he wrote. “WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? …AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO??? I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter. Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment.”
And perhaps, as everybody in the entire world except for Trump expected, the music community rallied behind Springsteen to show their support for him. Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Bono, Jason Isbell, and more all spoke out in solidarity with their friend in the days that followed.
In tennis lingo, I believe that would be a game, set, match.
