Recommendations of the Editorial team
Before he became a loud critic of Trump before he was a musician, Jack White was Polsterer. Growing up in Detroit, he started an apprenticeship at 15 and opened his own workshop at 21, Third Man Upholstery. A year later, his music career started when he founded the White Stripes with his then wife Meg White. But he never stopped restoring furniture in 2014 even showed us in a title story of the Rolling Stone in 2014 how to re -draw a stool. Normal rock star.
Trump’s oval office decor as a trigger
There is a clear overlap between White’s music and its interior design business, which goes far beyond the common name. (His label is called Third Man Records – but his lifelong fascination for the number three would be a separate essay). You will hardly find better dressed indie rockers, and it is known to follow a strict color scheme-red for the White Stripes, yellow for Third Man, blue for his solo projects, black everywhere. Vintage and historical objects are as important to him as the Reissue and the preservation of music. In every area of life, Jack White brings uncompromising consequence.
“In the case of craft and interior design, it can be inspiring as well as annoying to watch Jack to find ideas,” writes his nephew and business partner Ben Blackwell. “There is no reason why a building needs acoustic panels, tin ceilings or glossy yellow floors. But that’s not the point. It’s about creating something nice.”
No wonder that Donald Trump’s redesign of the White House, which is far from beautiful, shyed white this month. He posted a photo of Trump and the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj in the Oval Office and compared the makeover with “a vulgar, gilded and showy changing room of a wrestler”. He praised Selenskyj as a “real leader of a nation” in an elegant black suit, the rest was “an embarrassment for American history”. The snappy comment was reminiscent of Miranda Priestly’s legendary sweater monologue: Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.
The white house beats back
But it got even better. Communication director Steven Cheung actually replied and tried to dismiss White as a “looped, failed loser, who posts useless tirades on social media because his career stalls”. White does not respect the “splendor and meaning of the Oval Office” and is “only a blender who pretends to be an artist”. Ouch.
White followed-with a 750 word envelope. He pointed out the bitter irony: He has been attacking Trump for years because of politics, corruption, racism and lies – but reaction only comes when he mocked the establishment of the Oval Office. Previously, White Stars had criticized that Trump “normalized”. He left Twitter, sued Meg Trump for the use of “Seven Nation Army” in an election video (the lawsuit was dropped in 2024).
White fires back
In his statement, he listed Trump’s misconduct: “Obvious fascist manipulation of the government”, “Gestapo-Ice-tactics”, “Sexist and Pedophilic statements about women”, “Ignorance towards dying children in Sudan, in Gaza and in the Congo”, “constant, constant, constant lies”.
“I criticized all of this-but only when I made fun of the decoration of the Oval Office came the answer. How petty, pitiful and thin this government is? ‘Masquerading as a real artist’
A “failed musician”? Hardly
Cheung spott is ineffective: White has been in the industry for almost 30 years, has 12 Grammys, the stadium anthem rere of all time, and will be included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in autumn. Olivia Rodrigo cried when she hit him. Bob Dylan taught him welding. Beyoncé sent him flowers. His most recent album “No Name” (2024) received some of the best reviews of his career. No trace of standstill.
White, politics and “negative emotions”
Although White was never considered a very political artist-his first public candidate support was Bernie Sanders 2020-he was never quiet. He argued early with other musicians, such as the Black Keys. “Many emotions were demonized as if they shouldn’t exist. But without revenge and anger we would never have won the Second World War,” he said in 2018.
Today his “negative emotions” win. He speaks truth about power and brings the president into rage. White, just grew 50 (gifts: a Suzuki Samurai from 1991 and his first cell phone), has no desire for watered stripes revivals. He has more important things in his head. And you should now listen to him more than ever.