Donald Trump Jr. sparked widespread criticism this week after attempting to slam Bad Bunny’s historic Super Bowl halftime performance by citing lyrics the Puerto Rican superstar never actually sang.
The 48-year-old executive vice president of the Trump Organization took to social media Monday to challenge a Washington Post analysis that described Bad Bunny’s Sunday performance as displaying “wholesome, traditional family values.” In his post, Trump Jr. highlighted explicit lyrics from the 2020 song “Safaera” and demanded an explanation for the Post’s characterization.
“Here’s the lyrics. Please explain the wholesomeness in here,” Trump Jr. wrote, sharing an English translation of a particularly provocative verse. “Maybe the 30% layoffs at WAPO weren’t nearly enough.”
There was just one problem: the verse in question wasn’t performed by Bad Bunny at all. The lyrics Trump Jr. cited were actually sung by fellow Puerto Rican rapper Ñengo Flow in the studio version of “Safaera,” a collaboration between Bad Bunny, Ñengo Flow, and the duo Jowell & Randy. That specific verse was completely omitted from Sunday’s halftime show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The embarrassing gaffe comes as the Trump family continues its criticism of the 31-year-old performer, whose groundbreaking all-Spanish Super Bowl performance drew 128.2 million viewers. President Trump himself blasted the show on social media, calling it “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!”
Trump Jr.’s Washington Post jab referenced last week’s layoffs of more than 300 journalists at the Jeff Bezos-owned publication—one of the most devastating rounds of cuts in the paper’s nearly 150-year history.
The Washington Post article that sparked Trump Jr.’s ire, written by Shane O’Neill, acknowledged Bad Bunny’s performance included some political allusions but ultimately concluded it remained family-friendly. “This remained a PG-rated affair with about as much dirtiness to the dancing as there was in the 1987 movie ‘Dirty Dancing,'” O’Neill wrote.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, made history Sunday as the first artist to perform a Super Bowl halftime show entirely in Spanish. The 13-minute set celebrated Puerto Rican culture and featured musical guest appearances from Lady Gaga—who performed a salsa-inspired rendition of “Die with a Smile”—and Ricky Martin. Celebrities including Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Karol G, and Jessica Alba appeared among the dancers on the elaborate stage. The only English words Bad Bunny spoke during the performance were “God bless America,” before listing nations throughout Central, South, and North America.
The show’s political undertones weren’t lost on conservative critics, particularly given the timing amid President Trump’s immigration enforcement operations. Conservative organization Turning Point USA organized an alternative “All-American Halftime Show” featuring Kid Rock as counter-programming. The alternative show peaked at approximately 5 million concurrent viewers during its livestream—a fraction of Bad Bunny’s audience.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated before the game that President Trump, who hosted a watch party at his Mar-a-Lago resort rather than attending in person, would be watching the alternative performance instead. However, footage from the party showed the screens displaying Bad Bunny’s halftime show.
Trump Jr.’s factual error drew immediate attention on social media, with critics pointing out the irony of attacking a performance for lyrics that weren’t actually performed—or even sung by the correct artist. Representatives for the Washington Post, the Trump Organization, Bad Bunny, and Ñengo Flow did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The controversy has highlighted divisions within conservative circles over the performance. Some Trump supporters defended Bad Bunny’s show, noting that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Harrison Fields, a former White House principal deputy press secretary who left the administration in August 2025, pushed back against suggestions the show was un-American.
Former Trump campaign official Vianca Rodriguez criticized conservative radio host Larry Elder after he made inflammatory comments about the performance, writing that such rhetoric alienates Puerto Rican conservative voters.
Bad Bunny was Spotify’s most-streamed global artist in 2025 with 19.8 billion streams. His latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” (I Should Have Taken More Photos), won Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammys—the first Spanish-language album to win the award. The halftime performance marked his first U.S. show outside Puerto Rico since the album’s release and featured elaborate staging celebrating Puerto Rican culture, including a replica of a traditional Puerto Rican home that has become a staple of his world tour shows.
The show included symbolic references to Puerto Rico’s struggles, including a segment appearing to commemorate victims of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island. The official death toll was initially reported as 64 but was later revised to 2,975 following independent studies that revealed the true scale of the disaster.