Sydney Sweeney Addresses Donald Trump Supporter Rumors After President's American Eagles Comments
Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle denim spot went from breezy campaign to political lightning rod after Donald Trump weighed in, turning a simple ad into the internet’s latest culture-war battleground.
Some ad campaigns want to sell you jeans. This one also accidentally lit a match under the internet. Sydney Sweeney shot a playful denim spot for American Eagle, and then Donald Trump jumped in, and suddenly we were talking about politics and eugenics on main. Because of course we were.
The ad, the pun, the pile-on
American Eagle went with the tagline 'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' and leaned into the jeans vs genes wordplay. Online, that turned into a backlash from folks who read it as a clumsy wink at eugenics. A cheeky slogan became a discourse machine in about five minutes.
- American Eagle launches the 'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' campaign.
- Pushback lands fast over the jeans-genes pun, with some calling it a tone-deaf nod to eugenics.
- Donald Trump praises the spot during a CNN interview (picked up by EW), calling it the hottest campaign out there and tying his enthusiasm to his claim that Sweeney is a registered Republican. He says he would not have guessed that, adds that more people are Republicans than you think, and that if she is registered, the ad is fantastic.
- He then amplifies it on Truth Social, congratulating Sweeney by name, saying the jeans are flying off shelves, and framing the moment as anti-woke bragging rights for Republicans.
Sweeney finally weighs in
After watching this spin out in headlines and hot takes, Sweeney addressed it in GQ. She called the whole thing surreal and said she barely clocked the uproar because she was buried in a shoot. In other words: she thought she was making a jeans ad. Full stop.
'I did a jean ad. I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I'm literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.'
Meanwhile: The White Lotus season 4 is packing its bags
On the TV side, Sweeney fans have another thing on the horizon. The White Lotus is heading back to work for season 4, with creator Mike White steering the ship and cameras reportedly rolling along the South of France coastline. HBO already renewed the show earlier this year, but don't expect check-in until late 2026 or even 2027 since production is just getting underway.
As usual, expect a new roster of guests and staff, maybe with a familiar face or two mixed in. Plot specifics are locked up, but the formula isn't changing: sharp satire, tense class collisions, and that slow-burn mystery vibe. The buzz is that this chapter is bigger and bolder than ever, maybe even a supersized version of the series you know. European playground, bad decisions, excellent scenery. You get it.
The White Lotus is currently streaming on HBO.