Donald Trump has defended Sydney Sweeney’s controversial advertising campaign for American Eagle after learning she’s a Republican.
The Euphoria actress’s collaboration with the denim retailer has sparked heavy criticism for its perceived racial overtones, with its play on the words “genes” and “jeans”.
In the clip, the 27-year-old says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue."
Amid the backlash, public voting records revealed Sweeney has been registered with the Republican party in Florida since June 2024. She has never publicly supported Trump.
Trump , 79, said Sweeney’s ad is “fantastic” when a reporter informed him of The White Lotus star’s political leanings.
"She's a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad!" he said with a smile as he boarded Air Force One heading to the White House from Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The US president added: “Is that right? You'd be surprised at how many people are Republicans.
“I wouldn't have known, I'm glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic."
American Eagle dropped their new campaign last week, showing off a limited-edition style called The Sydney Jean – a wide-leg fit created in collaboration with the star.
The tagline originally reads, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes,” before the word “Genes” is crossed out and replaced with “Jeans.”
That phrase appears repeatedly throughout the campaign, which is being promoted across digital platforms and in-store displays.
However, critics have called out the “Great Genes” wordplay, pointing out that the term has historical associations with eugenics – a now widely discredited movement that promoted the idea of improving the human race through selective breeding.
The phrase has also been commonly used to celebrate traditional beauty standards, particularly thinness and whiteness.
Many social media users were quick to call out the campaign’s underlying message, criticising both the lack of diversity and the decision to use the phrase “great genes”.
Taking to X, one penned: “I like Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle as much as the next guy but ‘we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’ is a crazy tagline for selling jeans”.
“Maybe I'm too f***ing woke. But getting a blue-eyed, blonde, white woman and focusing your campaign around her having perfect genetics feels weird,” another shared.
Meanwhile on Instagram, one user commented under American Eagle’s advertisement: “This is what happens when you have no people of color in a room.
“Particularly in a time like this. This ad campaign got so caught up in this ‘clever’ play on words and this stunt, the people in the room missed what was so blatantly obvious to anyone not White.”
American Eagle said in response to the backlash: “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans.
“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Trump is the latest in a line of MAGA figures praising Sweeney’s participation in the ad.
Vice President JD Vance said: "So much of the Democrats is oriented around hostility to basic American life, so you have a pretty girl doing a jeans ad and they can't help but freak out.”
