During Bruce Springsteen’s set at the Light of Day Festival in New Jersey, he made a dedication to slain protester, Renee Nicole Good.
In recent years, the Boss has spoken up against Donald Trump and his administration, and this time he made a bold political statement at the Light of Day Festival. On Saturday, January 17, Springsteen dedicated his performance of The Promised Land to the late Renee Nicole Good and her home city of Minneapolis at the music festival.
Bruce Springsteen slammed ICE, while urging his audience to protest and defend American values at a time where those values are at stake. Meanwhile, Donald Trump had previously attacked the rock icon on social media, but so far, the president has not responded to this incident at the music festival.
Bruce Springsteen: “If you stand against heavily armed masked federal troops invading an American city using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens. If you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercizing your American right to protest, then send a message to this… pic.twitter.com/9DguCi8UJ6
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) January 18, 2026
Springsteen said firmly that the actions of ICE have resulted in a climate where US citizens can be “murdered for exercising your American right to protest.” He then urged his fans to uphold what he believes are core American values and make their voices heard, saying:
Send a message to this president. And as the mayor of that city has said, ICE should get the f*** out of Minneapolis. So this one is for you, and the memory of the mother of three and American citizen Renee Good.
Springsteen then launched into one of his most iconic songs, The Promised Land, which he introduced to his audience as “probably one of my greatest songs.” Bruce further said why he wrote the song, saying he created it “as an ode to American possibility, both to the beautiful but flawed country that we are, and to the country that we could be,” adding:
Now, right now, we are living through incredibly critical times. The United States, the ideals and the values for which it stood for the past 250 years, is being tested as it has never been in modern times. Those values and those ideals have never been as endangered as they are right now.
Meanwhile, the rock icon has vocally criticized the Trump administration on several occasions while touring over the summer, calling the current president “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.”
Bruce Springsteen on Trump: “I couldn’t care less what he thinks about me. He’s the living personification of what the 25th Amendment and impeachment were for. If Congress had any guts, he’d be consigned to the trash heap of history.”
RETWEET if you stand with @Springsteen! pic.twitter.com/T28sZ8LcWN
— Protect Kamala Harris ✊ (@DisavowTrump20) January 14, 2026
While Springsteen has been slamming Donald Trump on a regular basis over the last few years, last year, his words got to the president. In response, Trump took to his Truth Social page writing a condemnation about Springsteen and the comments he made on his music tour.
“I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy – Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK… This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country. That’s just standard fare. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!” the US President wrote.
Returning to the recent story, Trump has yet to comment about Springsteen’s words at the Light of Day Festival.
