Trump criticizes Bad Bunny’s performance at Super Bowl as a ‘slap in the face to America’
U.S. President Donald Trump strongly condemned Bad Bunny’s halftime show performance at Super Bowl LX, calling it “a slap in the face to America” and “the worst performance ever,” amid mixed reactions from the public.
Shortly after the performance ended on February 8 (US time) at SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles), Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social: “The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America… This ‘Show’ is just a ‘slap in the face’ to our Country”. Roughly translated: “The Super Bowl halftime performance was really bad, one of the worst ever! It’s utterly nonsensical, an insult to the greatness of America… This ‘performance’ is a ‘slap in the face.'”
He criticized the all-Spanish singing as “no one understood what he was saying”, calling the choreography “disgusting” and lacking in inspiration, and insisting the performance did not represent “American standards of success, creativity or excellence”.
Previously, Mr. Trump called the decision to choose Bad Bunny to perform at the Super Bowl “ridiculous” and announced that he would not watch the Super Bowl, instead supporting Turning Point USA’s alternative program with Kid Rock.
However, a video circulating on social media showed that at the Super Bowl party at Mar-a-Lago, Trump and his guests appeared to be watching a performance by Bad Bunny instead of Kid Rock.
Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is the first male Latino artist to solo lead a halftime Super Bowl show, marking a historic moment for the Puerto Rican and Latin American communities.
The 13-minute performance celebrates Boricua culture with playful elements such as anthropomorphic bushes, celebrity guests such as Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez, and a message of American solidarity: “God bless America”, followed by a list of countries from Chile to Canada, emphasizing that “America” encompasses the entire continent.
The show ended with the message “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”, hailed by critics such as The New York Times as a “kaleidoscopic blast of merriment”.
The reaction from American public opinion is deeply polarized, reflecting the political-cultural divide. Conservatives and Trump supporters on platforms such as Truth Social and X (Twitter) agreed, calling the show “anti-American”, politicizing sports, promoting the immigration agenda and “xenophobic” by emphasizing Latino identity.
Some X users called Bad Bunny “trash” and called for a boycott of the NFL, referencing the artist’s anti-ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) stance.
In contrast, the Latino community, fans and liberals hailed it as a “historic, joyful moment,” claiming “Spanish is American too,” when more than 50 million Americans speak the language.
Stars such as Piers Morgan refuted Trump: “I absolutely love Bad Bunny’s show,” while Tiffany Haddish defended: “It makes me feel proud to be American.”
On X, many of the posts suggested that Trump was “angry while millions of people loved it,” and compared it to him listening to Andrea Bocelli’s Italian opera.
According to initial estimates, Bad Bunny’s halftime show attracted 135–142.3 million views across all platforms, breaking the previous record, far surpassing Turning Point USA’s alternative show (about 25 million views on YouTube and Rumble).
The event sparked widespread debate about American identity, cultural diversity and the political role of entertainment, with major news outlets such as CNN, BBC and Reuters reporting in detail.
Bad Bunny has not responded directly, but he has previously criticized Trump over immigration policy.
Bad Bunny dominates the 2026 Grammys (taking place on February 1 at the Crypto Arena, Los Angeles) with 3 awards, marking a historic milestone for Latin music. The album Debí Tirar Más Fotos (released in 1/2025) became the first pure Spanish album to win Album of the Year – the highest award at the Grammys.
In addition, he won Best Música Urbana Album (the same album above) and Best Global Music Performance for the song EoO.Although Bunny received 6 initial nominations, he did not perform due to the Super Bowl contract (which took place just one week later on February 8).This victory confirms Bad Bunny’s position as a global icon, popularizing reggaeton and Puerto Rican culture, even though it has been “overlooked” by the Grammys in the major category before.
The Super Bowl Halftime Show is an epic musical performance that takes place during halftime of the NFL (NFL) – Super Bowl final, usually lasting 12–15 minutes. It started out as simple marching performances by college bands, but since the 1990s it has become the biggest stage of the year with superstars such as Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and more recently Bad Bunny. This is not only a recess but also the most anticipated pop culture event, attracting hundreds of millions of global audiences thanks to its top-notch performance scale and symbolism.
