Green Day’s announcement as the Super Bowl’s opening act foreshadows another clash with Donald Trump

Since it was announced that Bad Bunny would perform at the halftime show, the Super Bowl has sparked conversation beyond the field and, on Monday, that debate intensified further. On social media, the event has been labeled an “anti-Trump” spectacle following the NFL’s announcement that Green Day will serve as the opening act on February 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The iconic California punk rock band has previously criticized the US president’s administration, fueling expectations that their performance will include messages opposing his policies. For now, the group has limited its comments to saying, “Let’s have fun! Let’s get loud!” In a statement.

The band, formed by Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool, has used music as a platform for protest since the beginning of its career, updating its references in line with the political context of the times. During their performance at Coachella in 2025, Green Day changed the lyrics of American Idiot to include the phrase, “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” as a critique of President Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. “The thing about songs like this is that, in the United States, they become more true as time goes by. Originally, the song was written about the presidency of George W. Bush, but I think it carries more weight under the presidency of Donald Trump, a person who is clearly not qualified to lead the country… He’s a complete idiot,” Armstrong told Rolling Stone. The singer has also spoken out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by encouraging the audience to chant “fuck ICE” at one of his recent concerts.

Bad Bunny’s role as the halftime show headliner has further fueled the controversy. The Puerto Rican artist did not include the United States in his DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS world tour, citing concerns that ICE could take advantage of the shows to target his largely Latino fan base. For the video of NUEVAYoL, he also included a track in which he mimics Trump’s voice, declaring that “this country is nothing without its immigrants.”

Following the announcement of the halftime show performer for the NFL’s most important game of the year, the US government warned that immigration agents will be present at the event. “There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you. So know that that is a very real situation under this administration, which is completely contrary to what it used to be”, said in an interview Corey Lewandowski, chief adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Amid widespread speculation, it remains to be seen whether Green Day and Bad Bunny will respond on stage on February 8.