Mick Jagger on Trump Using Stones Songs: I ‘Can’t Stop’ Him

After months and multiple statements issued by The Rolling Stones expressing displeasure at the use of their music at Donald Trump rallies, the rock n’ roll band’s frontman Mick Jagger finally commented on why the band and its team couldn’t prevent the use of their songs on Trump’s campaign playlist.

“So Patty, asked me about Donald Trump using Stones music, and we [previously] said, like, ‘Don't use our music,’” Jagger said on a Rolling Stones Twitter Q&A on Wednesday afternoon. “So, the thing is, when you appear in America...if you're in a public place like Madison Square Garden or a theater, you can play any music you want, and you can't be stopped. So, if you write a song and someone plays it in a restaurant that you go to, you can't stop them. They can play what they want.”

The Trump campaign has long played Rolling Stones songs at its campaign stops, with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” becoming Trump’s de facto campaign song. (The song played directly following Trump’s speech accepting the Republican nomination at the GOP convention in Cleveland, and it has been reported that Trump personally picks the music on the playlist.)

In February, Rolling Stones spokeswoman Fran Curtis told The Daily Beast that “the band was not asked for permission to use the songs.” In May, the band again asked Team Trump to knock it off, once again to no avail. But, as The Rolling Stones now publicly admit, there is very little they can do if Trump wants to continue to make their work part of his presidential campaign.

—Asawin Suebsaeng