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White House fires back after John Mellencamp mocks Trump's Gulf of America during concert
By Janelle Ash
Published July 27, 2026
The White House is hitting back after John Mellencamp took direct shots at President Donald Trump's Gulf of America.
Mellencamp paused his Saturday night show Holmdel, N.J. to mock Trump's executive order to rename the "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America."
On Monday, Davis Ingle, WH Spokesman, shared a statement with Fox News Digital. "Nobody in their right mind cares what out-of-touch, woke Hollywood celebrities have to say," Ingle said.
John Mellencamp blasted President Donald Trump's Gulf of America name change during a recent show. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
As part of his "Dancing Words" Tour, Mellencamp was singing the first few verses of his hit "Pink Houses," before he addressed the crowd directly.
"Well, there’s people and more people/ What do they know, know, know?/ Go to work in some high rise/ And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico," the rock icon sang before adding, "Wait a minute," according to USA Today.
"Nobody in their right mind cares what out-of-touch, woke Hollywood celebrities have to say."
While Mellencamp's band kept playing, the musician said sarcastically, "The Gulf of Mexico? Is that right? It’s not the Gulf of America? What a stupid f–----g idea."
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President Donald Trump held a "Gulf of America" hat on the South Lawn of the White House in April 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Mellencamp then picked right back up and finished performing "Pink Houses."
Released in 1983, Mellencamp's "Pink Houses" became one of his signature hits, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Mellencamp called the decision to change the name "a stupid f-----g idea." (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
While many listeners initially embraced it as a patriotic anthem, Mellencamp has said the song is actually a sharp commentary on the American dream, exploring themes of class, inequality and the gap between ideals and reality.
The song was inspired by Mellencamp spotting a man sitting outside a small pink house along an Indiana highway, an image that sparked the iconic chorus, "Ain't that America."
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https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/white-house-fires-back-john-mellencamp-mocks-trumps-gulf-america-concert