Springsteen tackles Trump, ICE at Bay Area concert: 'We have a president who can't handle the truth'

Jim Harrington, The Mercury News on Apr 14, 2026

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Bruce Springsteen took some major swings at the Trump administration during his superb concert with the E Street Band at Chase Center in San Francisco on Monday night. Here are some of the highlights:

(At the start of the Springsteen concert):

“The E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n’ roll in dangerous times,” Springsteen proclaimed. “We are here in celebration and defense of our American ideals, democracy, our constitution and in our sacred American promise. The America that I love, the America I’ve written about for 50 years, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world, is truly in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous administration.

“Tonight, we ask all of you to join with us in choosing hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over lawlessness, ethics over unbridled corruption, resistance over complacency, truth over lies, unity over division and peace over … (lead into the song “War”).”

(Prior to “My City of Ruins”)

“We are currently in the midst of troubled times,” Springsteen said. “Our American values that have sustained us for 250 years are being challenged as never before. Our young men and women’s lives are at risk in an unwise and illegal war. This is happening now.

“There are immigrants being held in for-profit detention centers around the country. Being deported without due process of law to alien countries into foreign prisons. This is happening now.

“Our Justice Department has completely abdicated its independence and takes its marching orders directly from a corrupt White House. They prosecute our president’s perceived enemies. They cover up for his misdeeds. And they protect his powerful friends. This is happening now.

“The richest men in America thought it nothing to abandon the world’s poorest children to death and disease by dismantling U.S. aid. This is happening now.

“We are undermining NATO and the world order that kept us safe and global peace for 80 years. This is happening now.

We threatened our neighbors, our allies, Canada, the Netherlands, whose sons and daughters fought alongside us in American wars. And we threatened them with predatory annexation of their land. This is happening now.

“Our museums are being told to whitewash American history of any unpleasant or inconvenient facts, like the full history of the brutality of slavery. If you want to talk about snowflakes, we have a president who can’t handle the truth. This is happening now.

“Working Americans struggle. And while they struggle, our president and his family enriched themselves by billions of dollars trading on the people’s office in corruption unmatched in American history. This is happening now.

“The White House is destroying the American ideal and our reputation around the world. To many, we’re no longer looked at as the imperfect, but strong defender of democracy, standing for the global good. We’re no longer the land of the free, the home of the brave. We are now America, the reckless, unpredictable, predatory, rogue nation. That is this administration, and this president’s legacy. And this is happening now.

Honesty, honor, humility, truth, compassion, humanity, thoughtfulness, morality, true strength and decency. Don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore, they do.

“Because they are in the heart of the kind of men and women we are. The kind of citizens we are and want to be. Of the kind of country we are and we’ll be leaving to our children. So many of our elected leaders fail us, that this American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people.

“So join us and let’s fight for the America we love. Are you with us?”

(During encore:)

“The hardest part about all this, for me, is the distance you feel with your fellow citizens — your neighbors,” Springsteen said. “If you let it, it darkens your soul. Like we have a president who says he wishes nothing but ill upon those he disagrees with — and who disagrees with him. I don’t want to live like that.

“America, from the beginning, was born out of disagreement. It was built on argument, on disagreement. We can argue about what course we thought the country should take, while recognizing our common humanity, our dignity and, yes, unity.

“I’m not giving that up.”