Chicks singer Natalie Maines took a jab at President Donald Trump from a New York stage, and the White House fired back with an insult so brutal it is hard to believe it came from an official statement.
The White House called Maines a “despicable nobody” after she mocked Trump onstage in New York on Oct. 12, 2026.
A White House spokesperson, who was not named, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, Oct. 14: “Natalie Maines is a despicable nobody who clearly suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted her peanut-sized brain.”
The concert that set it off was the first of two Manhattan dates on The Chicks’ “Taking the Long Way 20th Anniversary Tour,” at the Beacon Theatre on Monday, Oct. 12. The show plays the 2006 album start to finish, with a best-of encore, and the band stops to tell the stories behind writing and recording it.
Before Maines spoke, the screens rolled a vintage montage of political pundits and everyday folk reacting to her 2003 criticism of President George W. Bush. She told the crowd she would never give in to the people who told her to shut up and sing.
“Now I’d give George (W.) Bush a big wet kiss,” Maines said. “‘Cause now we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from the United States.”
Maines was 51 that night. She turned 52 on Oct. 14, the day the White House statement went out.
The 2003 Line That Drew Death Threats
The original remark came on March 10, 2003, in London, as the United States prepared to invade Iraq. “We’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas,” Maines, a Texas native, told the audience.
The backlash was swift. Country radio dropped the band’s then-hit singles. Conservative pundits called the trio unpatriotic, other country artists told them to be quiet, and death threats came in heavy enough that the FBI had to step in. Hundreds of country stations blacklisted them.
A No. 1 Album and a No. 36 Single
“Taking the Long Way,” produced by Rick Rubin and preceded by the single “Not Ready to Make Nice,” was the trio’s first album after the controversy. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and on the Top Country Albums chart, then took home both best country album and the top prize, album of the year, at the 2007 Grammys. “Not Ready to Make Nice” took three Grammys of its own, including song of the year and record of the year, and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
On Hot Country Songs, the same single stalled at No. 36. Before the controversy, The Chicks had six No. 1s and 15 top 10s on that chart. They have not gone higher than No. 20 since, with “Gaslighter” in 2020. The band has won 13 Grammys since Maines joined in 1995, when it was known as the Dixie Chicks.
Trump as the Devil in 2016
Maines and bandmates Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire performed their 1999 hit “Goodbye Earl” in front of a backdrop showing Trump as the devil during the DCX World Tour MMXVI in 2016.
In May 2026, Maines went after Trump on Instagram over his $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded plan to pay allies who were investigated during the Biden years. She wrote that American democracy was disappearing, and accused the president of using the public’s gas money to pay insurrectionists.
The anniversary tour runs through early November, with shows in Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles and more.
Later in the Beacon Theater show, Maines gave a shout-out to the Obama Presidential Center, which the band visited in Chicago earlier this month, praising “all the positive things they did and continue to do.” Then she drew the contrast. “So different than the deranged nut job we have right now,” she said.
