WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised singer-songwriter Jesse Welles as “one of the few honest musicians left,” announcing plans to invite him to the White House after listening to several of his recent songs, including Join ICE and The Poor.
“I don’t understand why the radical left likes this guy,” Trump told reporters. “He’s got a song called Join ICE. Terrific song. I listened to a few others, and he seems to agree with me on just about everything.”
According to White House officials, the President heard Welles’ music after a junior aide was asked to assemble a playlist of contemporary protest songs to help familiarize him with younger artists. The aide reportedly selected Welles’ most-streamed tracks without providing any additional context.
Sources familiar with the listening session said Trump responded enthusiastically after hearing Join ICE, describing it as “finally, somebody in the music business who gets it.”
“He said it was nice to hear a young artist supporting immigration enforcement for a change,” one aide said. “Nobody corrected him.”
The enthusiasm reportedly did not stay confined to private briefings. Within hours, the President had directed ICE to feature Join ICE in its new national recruitment ad, posting on Truth Social that the agency needed “MORE ICE AGENTS, NOW!”
The resulting ad, which began airing on cable news the following morning, intercuts recruitment footage with the song’s lyrics played in full — including the line “come with me and put some folks in detention” set against agents high-fiving in a parking lot, and “I hear they get a great benefit plan” laid over a spinning 401(k) graphic.
An ICE spokesperson called the ad “incredibly on-message,” adding that applications had already ticked upward. “People are responding to the honesty,” the spokesperson said. “It really captures the mission.”
Not everyone appeared to be receiving the intended message. Several new recruits reportedly resigned within their first week, citing, according to internal exit interviews, “not reading the lyrics closely enough” and “assuming it was a joke.”
The President was reportedly equally impressed by The Poor, calling it “a very strong song about the importance of personal responsibility.”
“It’s refreshing,” Trump said. “You don’t hear music like that anymore.”
White House staff later confirmed that Jesse Welles had been formally invited to perform at an upcoming event celebrating patriotic American music. Officials said the proposed set list was still being finalized, although Join ICE had already been requested as the centerpiece of the main set.
According to several aides, the President also requested that the event conclude with Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A., which he described as “another favorite of mine that’s exactly about what people think it’s about.”
The invitation reportedly puzzled several administration officials, who quietly attempted to play additional Jesse Welles songs during a morning briefing in the hope that the President might reconsider.
According to attendees, the effort had the opposite effect.
“He really sticks to his principles,” Trump reportedly concluded after listening to several more tracks. “Very consistent. I still don’t know why the left likes him.”
When one reporter suggested that Welles’ songs might not be expressing the views the President believed they were, Trump dismissed the criticism.
“I’ve been listening to music for a long time,” he said. “Nobody understands lyrics better than me.”
White House officials said they were still awaiting Welles’ response to the invitation. As of press time, the President remained optimistic that the singer would be honored to perform what he described as “his tremendous pro-law enforcement classics” before a national audience.