---
title: "Springsteen calls his criticism of Trump 'critical patriotism'"
description: "Bruce Springsteen, who has spent his recent tour openly criticizing President Trump, is framing that criticism as an act of patriotism, telling a PBS program he believes in what he called 'critical patriotism,' loving a country enough to confront its faults."
category: "Entertainment"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/entertainment
author: "Gabriela Soto"
published: 2026-07-05T22:58:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-05T22:58:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/springsteen-calls-his-criticism-of-trump-critical-patriotism
tags: ["bruce-springsteen", "music", "politics", "donald-trump"]
---
# Springsteen calls his criticism of Trump 'critical patriotism'

Bruce Springsteen, who has spent his recent tour openly criticizing President Trump, is framing that criticism as an act of patriotism, telling a PBS program he believes in what he called 'critical patriotism,' loving a country enough to confront its faults.

Bruce Springsteen has an answer for those who say an artist criticizing his own country is unpatriotic. The criticism, he argues, is the patriotism.

## What he said

In a PBS special, "Bruce Springsteen: Finding America in Song," the musician described his stance as a form of devotion rather than rejection. "I believe in critical patriotism," Springsteen said. "I believe that's the definition of a patriot, that you love your country so much that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place," he added, [as reported by Variety](https://variety.com/2026/music/news/bruce-springsteen-patriot-standing-up-to-trump-1236802109/).

The remarks put a label on a posture Springsteen has taken up and down his recent tour, where protest songs and pointed commentary about the current administration have been a regular feature.

## A running dispute with Trump

Springsteen's political outspokenness has drawn a direct response from the president. After the singer's on-stage criticism, Mr. Trump attacked him on social media and called for his supporters to boycott Springsteen's concerts, disparaging both the performer and his music, [Variety reported](https://variety.com/2026/music/news/bruce-springsteen-patriot-standing-up-to-trump-1236802109/). The two men have traded barbs for years, and this tour has become the most sustained stretch of Springsteen's public opposition.

## An old argument, revived

The debate Springsteen is wading into, whether dissent is a betrayal of country or an expression of loyalty to it, is an old one in American life, and it has flared repeatedly around musicians and other artists. Supporters see performers who speak out as part of a long tradition of protest; critics see celebrities using a stage for politics their audiences did not buy tickets for.

Springsteen, for his part, has planted his flag on the side that says a patriot can love a country and still tell it, loudly, where he thinks it has gone wrong. At 76, with a catalog full of songs about the promise and the disappointments of American life, he is arguing that the two are not in conflict, and that, in his telling, the argument itself is the patriotic act.