President Donald Trump’s social media team is looking to ride the wave of Aubrey Drake Graham dropping his latest, highly anticipated collection of music, but the trend-hopping move did not land with many hip-hop fans.
Drake, 39, released three full-length projects on May 15. The Canadian rap superstar gifted his loyal followers with the 18-track “Iceman,” the 14-track “Maid of Honour,” and the 11-track “Habibti.”
The cover art for Drizzy’s “Iceman” featured a Michael Jackson-esque, crystal-covered glove making the “OK” sign, which has been adopted as a symbol of white supremacy among far-right figures.
Staffers for Trump, 79, jumped on the chance to be part of the buzz surrounding the “Iceman” roll-out by sharing an altered image of Drake’s cover with the glittering hand holding a diamond-encrusted “MAGA” chain.
The official White House account on X posted the “Iceman” cover spoof with a caption that read, “ICED OUT.” While the MAGA faithful were energized by Team Trump leaning into the trending topic of the day, many people on social media saw the post as a lame attempt at cultural relevance.
Trolls had a field day with their own “Iceman” edits blasting Trump’s unpopular ICE immigration policies and his previous friendly association with the late convicted trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Memes that switched out the “MAGA” pendant for “F–K ICE” and “EPSTEIN” pendants flooded X timelines.
Reactions also poured in on Instagram. For instance, one person in the comment section of Hollywood Unlocked’s page responded to the White House appropriating Drake into their messaging by writing, “This country is literally burning in hell. I cannot take those people [seriously].”
“The most GHETTOEST s–t I ever saw,” a second person on the platform declared, which inspired someone else to suggest the Trump administration needs to fall. The comment read, “Demolish the whole house at this point.”
Unfortunately for Drizzy, he caught heat online for the White House converting his visuals into propaganda for the conservative movement in America. One poster expressed, “Well, I didn’t need another reason to hate Drake, but here we are.”
Over on the Rap page, a bewildered Instagram user posted, “I’m living in the worst timeline.” Other people called the White House’s picture “corny” and the federal government’s obvious engagement farming “embarrassing.”
There were also calls for Drake to make a public statement about the “Iceman”-MAGA mashup that quickly spread across the internet on Friday when one person advised, “Drake better step up and say [something], lmao.”
One fan of the former “Degrassi: The Next Generation” teenage actor came to his defense, posting, “This got nothing to do with Drake.” While another recommended, “Drake better sue them for defamation.”
As of this writing, the OVO Sound founder has not confirmed what steps, if any, he will take in response to the White House using a modified version of his cover art, but he has not been afraid to go to court over art in the past.
Some hip-hop purists believe Drake irreparably damaged his reputation by filing a defamation lawsuit against his label, Universal Music Group, over longtime rival Kendrick Lamar’s scathing diss track “Not Like Us.”
The suit was dismissed in October 2025, but is currently in the appeals process. Drake’s complaint that the UMG-backed Lamar, 38, was defamatory by accusing him of being a sexual predator in the chart-topping record was shut down by a judge who ruled that K. Dot’s targeted disses are a war of words containing opinions, not facts.
“Not Like Us” was the fatal blow in what is considered one of the greatest rap battles of all time. The internet-breaking feud produced five diss songs from Drake and four diss songs from Kendrick over 16 days in April and May 2024.
Following the lyrical onslaught that included wild allegations from both sides, the general consensus awarded the victory to Lamar, who was able to parlay that triumph into a Super Bowl LIX halftime performance and a stadium tour.
Meanwhile, Drake has been struggling to find his footing in the music space since losing to the Compton-bred emcee. “Iceman,” “Maid of Honour,” and “Habibti” are Drizzy’s first full-length solo albums after the beef with Kendrick came to a head.
“Kendrick don’t have to even speak, and his diss records become more valid,” proclaimed an Instagram commenter under a post about the White House’s fake blinged-out “MAGA” imagery.
Drake has mostly avoided getting entangled in American politics throughout his 15-year run as a mainstream global hitmaker. However, the Toronto-born recording artist did make remarks in 2017 that many observers assumed were a jab at Trump.
“Every day I wake up and see all this bulls–t going on in the world. People trying to tear us apart, people trying to make us turn against each other,” Drake told the audience at his “Boy Meets World Tour” stop at London’s O2 Arena.
The “God’s Plan” performer went on to add, “If you ever thought for a second any one man is going to this world apart, you’re out of your motherf–king mind. It’s on us to keep this sh-t together. F–k that man.”
Drake may have kept his political leanings in the background of his career, but two of his frequent collaborators have fully jumped on the Trump train. Fellow Young Money Entertainment standouts Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj, have both publicly stood beside the MAGA chief in recent years.
