Bruce Springsteen's band weren't prepared for his Trump speech

Bruce Springsteen onstage in Manchester (Image credit: Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images)

Bruce Springsteen has revealed that the E Street Band had no idea what he was about to say during his now-famous anti-Donald Trump monologue in the UK earlier this year.

The speech, which was later released as part of an EP, Land of Hope and Dreams, was delivered on the first night of the tour of the same name at Co-op Live in Manchester.

In a new interview in Time, Springsteen reveals that he'd told the band that things "might get a little heavy tonight" prior to the show, but elected not to tell them what he was about to say.

“He mentioned he was going to do a monologue,” says E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons. “We didn’t know what it was until we were onstage.”

According to Springsteen, only two people knew what was about to transpire: his longtime manager, Jon Landau, who approved of the speech, and the show's teleprompter operator.

"The America I love is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration," Springsteen told the crowd. "There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.

"In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now.

"They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands.

"The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and, regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment."

Donald Trump reacted to the speech by calling Springsteen a "dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker" and "not a talented guy", but the singer seems unfazed by such criticism.

"I absolutely couldn’t care less what he thinks about me," he tells Time. "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.”

Springsteen goes on to criticise the Democratic opposition, saying, "We’re desperately in need of an effective alternative party, or for the Democratic Party to find someone who can speak to the majority of the nation."

Earlier this month, Springsteen finally released the long-rumoured 'Nebraska version' of his much-misunderstood anthem Born In The USA. It's taken from an expanded edition of Nebraska, which includes a newly remastered version of the original 1982 album, eight tracks from the Electric Nebraska sessions, nine previously unheard Nebraska outtakes, and a live solo acoustic version of the album recorded earlier this year at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ.

Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition is released on October 17 via 4LP/Blu-ray and 4CD/Blu-Ray.

Bruce Springsteen - Land of Hope and Dreams (Manchester May 14, 2025 [Official Live Video]) - YouTube

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Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

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