Trump slams Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show as ‘disgusting’

For all its fireworks, dance numbers, and celebrity cameos, the most radical moment of this year’s Super Bowl halftime show was all about love – but President Trump didn’t see it that way.

Midway through Bad Bunny’s deeply political halftime spectacle, cameras panned to a bride and groom standing beneath a decorated arch on the field.

The kiss they shared at the ‘I do’ moment seemed so sincere that many fans wondered whether the nuptials were more than just a bit of staging.

Now, the singer’s representatives have confirmed to Variety that the ceremony was legally binding and that it was a very real couple on stage.

Bad Bunny had promised that ‘the world will dance,’ and for much of the night that’s exactly what happened.

The performance unfolded like a living Puerto Rican neighbourhood, including sugar-cane fields giving way to a vecindad complete with barber shops, nail salons, domino-playing viejitos, and a glowing casita at its heart.

Within hours, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to condemn the show in furious terms, branding it ‘absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!’ and ‘an affront to the Greatness of America.’

‘Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,’ Trump raged.

He went on to describe the performance as a ‘slap in the face’ to the country, insisting it failed to meet America’s ‘standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence’, before claiming it would only receive praise from what he called the ‘Fake News Media.’

Super Bowl

Trump’s full post about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show:

‘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, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World.

‘This “Show” is just a “slap in the face” to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day — including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History! There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD — And, by the way, the NFL should immediately replace its ridiculous new Kickoff Rule. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP’

he backlash struck an odd note against a show explicitly built around unity, cultural pride, and shared joy. That theme, which was only political in that it was hopeful and celebratory, appeared to be exactly what Trump rejected.

When it was first announced that the singer would perform at the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny shared in a statement: ‘What I’m feeling goes beyond myself. It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history.

‘Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL. (Go and tell grandma that we will be the HALFTIME SHOW of the Super Bowl).’

Gaga delivered a salsa-inflected reinterpretation of her 2024 hit Die With a Smile, reimagined through a Latin musical tradition and backed by live musicians.

Bad Bunny later welcomed Ricky Martin for an emotionally heavy sequence referencing Puerto Rico’s prolonged blackouts after Hurricane Maria.

Political imagery surfaced repeatedly, including replayed footage of Bad Bunny’s recent Grammy speech condemning racism, to a closing tableau of dancers carrying flags from across the Americas.

In another moving moment, Bad Bunny handed one of his Grammy awards to a young boy, who grinned as the singer patted him on the head.

Many online thought the child looked similar to Liam Ramos, a five-year-old boy previously detained by ICE in an incident that stoked international outrage.

While it was later confirmed that a child actor, not Ramos, took the award from Bad Bunny, it was still symbolically poignant.

As the set drew to a close, Bad Bunny held up a football stamped with the words ‘Together, we are America,’ as a billboard appeared that read ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love,’ before ending the night in a full-field dance party.

Despite the massive scale of the show, many will be surprised to learn Bad Bunny earned zero money for his performance at the Super Bowl.

The NFL does not pay artists for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, as it’s essentially an enormous promotional opportunity and exposes millions of people to a musician’s work.

For millions of others, Bad Bunny’s halftime show was exactly what the moment demanded, serving as a defiant reminder that hope still exists when people choose connection over division.