Released February 8, 2011 Recorded 2010 Length 2:45 | Format Digital download Genre Hip hop Label Rostrum | |
"Donald Trump" is a song from American rapper Mac Miller, and the only song released as an official single from his mixtape Best Day Ever. The melody, which is played throughout the song, is taken from "Vesuvius" by Sufjan Stevens. The music video to the song was uploaded to YouTube on March 3, 2011, while the single was released digitally on May 17, 2011. "Donald Trump" is also incorrectly included as a bonus track on the track list of some versions of Mac Miller's debut album Blue Slide Park. Miller himself confirmed that the song does not feature on the album. The song was dedicated to the American business magnate Donald Trump, who five years after the song's release, was elected President of the United States. During Trump's 2016 campaign, the song regained popularity, hitting #28 on the iTunes Charts on November 9, 2016, the day after he was elected president. However Mac Miller has personally stated in an interview that he was not a supporter of Trump.
Contents
Background
The money-inspired hip-hop song refers to business magnate and then-future 45th President of the United States Donald Trump, particularly Mac Miller's ambitions to become wealthy and successful like him ("Take over the world when I'm on my Donald Trump shit/Look at all this money, ain't that some shit?"). In August 2011, shortly after the music video to the song reached 20 million views on YouTube, Donald Trump himself praised the song and branded the young Pittsburgh rapper as "the next Eminem". Mac Miller responded appreciatively, but played down any comparisons between himself and Eminem.
However, the relationship between Mac Miller and Trump soon soured. In January 2013, Trump threatened him with a lawsuit for profiting off his name, calling him "little" and an "ungrateful dog". During Trump's campaign for president in 2016, Mac Miller said on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore that Trump was "such an egomaniacal, attention-thirsty, psychopathic, power-hungry, delusional waste of skin and bones".
Critical reception
Rolling Stone called the track an "irresistible bro-down".
Chart performance
"Donald Trump" was the first song by Mac Miller to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, managing to reach #75 on January 7, 2012. It also entered the US Digital chart at #58 on the same date. On March 19, 2013, "Donald Trump" was certified Platinum by the RIAA.
The song has also charted in SNEP, the official French Singles Chart, peaking at #110 in July 2012.