Neil Young has published a scathing op-ed on his official website, condemning Donald Trump for dividing America and contributing to recent unrest. The editorial, posted on the Neil Young Archives, calls for peaceful protests amid nationwide demonstrations following a fatal shooting by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Young also shares updates on his upcoming music releases and tours.
Neil Young began the new year with a fiery editorial on the Neil Young Archives website, targeting President Donald Trump and his administration. Published on January 9, 2026, the piece describes the United States as a 'disaster' under Trump's leadership. 'Wake up, people!' Young writes. 'Today the USA is a disaster. Donald Trump is destroying America bit by bit with his staff of wannabes, people with no experience or talent, closet alcoholic wife beaters, inexperienced leaders who only know how to lie to keep favor with Trump’s falseness so they can hold their unearned positions in his inept government, a Congress full of Republicans acting like idiots with no conscience…He has divided us.'
The op-ed arrives days after a protester was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, igniting protests across major cities. Young urges action: 'We need to take Trump at his word. Make America Great Again. It won’t be easy while he is trying to turn our cities into battlegrounds so he can cancel our elections with marshal law and escape all accountability…Something has to change this. We know what to do. Rise up. Peacefully in millions. Too many innocence people are dying.' He sharply criticizes ICE, stating, 'It’s ICE cold here in America. There was no ICE before Trump. No soldiers in the streets before Trump.' A note clarifies that ICE predates Trump, though its tactics have intensified.
This is not Young's first rebuke of Trump, despite the president's past admiration for his music. In a 2008 Rolling Stone interview, Trump praised Young's voice as 'perfect and haunting.' Last summer, Young released 'Big Crime,' a protest song with lyrics like 'Don’t need no fascist rules' and 'Don’t want soldiers on our streets.' The track was recently covered by Yo La Tengo.
In the editorial, Young also provides music updates. He is preparing the fourth volume of his Archive box sets and has discovered a new rendition of 'Ordinary People' from the Blue Notes era, plus a rare Crazy Horse concert from March 13, 1996—the band's first show after producer David Briggs's death in November 1995. That performance, at Old Princeton Landing in Princeton-By-The-Sea, California, featured songs from Zuma and the debut live version of 'Stupid Girl.'
Looking ahead, Neil Young and Chrome Hearts will start a European tour on June 19, 2026, in Manchester, England, with limited U.S. dates planned.
