Jack White has once again turned his focus to U.S. politics, putting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in his sights at a recent performance.
White is currently in the midst of his global No Name tour, which has seen him perform a number of concerts in areas as diverse as central America, Asia and Oceania in recent months. As Consequence of Sound points out, Feb. 18 saw White wrapping up a brief run of gigs in Canada and the northeastern U.S., closing out the dates with two nights at the Roadrunner in Boston.
During his main set, White shared a rendition of his 2018 single “Corporation,” which originally featured on his third solo album Boarding House Reach, and typically begins with the line “I’m thinking about starting a corporation. Who’s with me?”
In the version played in Boston, White switched up the lyrics to offer a sharp-tongued takedown of Musk, leaning on the Tesla CEO’s involvement in the current administration after debuting the new line, “I was thinking about becoming an oligarch, who’s with me?”
“I was thinking about taking government subsidies and starting my own electric car company. Who’s with me?” White sang. “I’m thinking about not being elected. Never holding a public office. Never serving one day of military service. But somehow having the authority to control parts of the U.S. Government. Who’s with me?
“I’m thinking about not being properly vetted by the Supreme Court or Congress, just doing whatever the hell I want because some fucking bloated asshole orange fucking gorilla who’s failed at every business he’s ever ran wants me to be his golf cart partner!”
This isn’t the first time that White has changed his lyrics to reflect his distaste towards Trump. Previously, The White Stripes sold “Icky Trump” shirts during the President’s successful 2016 campaign, altering the title to their 2007 song “Icky Thump” in the process. In 2018, White performed the song with new lyrics that specifically called out the President by name.
More recently, White reacted to Trump’s 2024 election win by sharing a lengthy social media post in early November to express his disbelief at the state of U.S. politics.
“Americans chose a known, obvious fascist and now America will get whatever this wannabe dictator wants to enact from here on in,” he wrote. “It’s absolutely dumbfounding that this con man succeeded in pulling the wool over so many Americans eyes not once, but twice.”
White has since returned to the road since his February performance, appearing in Europe and the U.K. before his current Japanese leg. However, he’s yet to perform “Corporation” again since the Boston show.
