President Donald Trump is applauding actress Sydney Sweeney — both for her recent American Eagle ad and her political leanings.
While speaking to reporters in Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 3, Trump was informed that Sweeney, 27, has been a registered Republican in Florida for the past year. The detail was first reported by BuzzFeed News and confirmed through publicly available voter registration data that PEOPLE also reviewed.
“She’s a registered Republican?” Trump, 79, responded. “Oh, now I love her ad.”
“You’d be surprised how many people are Republicans,” he added. “That’s one I wouldn’t have known, but I’m glad you told me that.”
Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign debuted on July 23 and sparked considerable online backlash. Critics took issue with the campaign’s wordplay on “jeans” and “genes,” accusing it of promoting problematic messaging.
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In the ad, Sweeney says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.” The camera then cuts to her face as she adds, “My jeans are blue.”
Some viewers accused the campaign of promoting eugenics, a controversial concept historically associated with selective breeding to “improve” the human race.
The campaign was also criticized for sexualized overtones and comparisons to older ads that targeted the male gaze. Detractors drew parallels to the 1980s Calvin Klein commercial featuring Brooke Shields, in which the then-15-year-old actress famously said, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”
On Monday, Trump doubled down on his support for Sweeney by praising her ad in a post on Truth Social.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves,’” he wrote. “Go get ‘em Sydney!”
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Sweeney’s Republican registration was reported just days after the campaign’s launch. According to the records, she registered on June 14, 2024 — Trump’s 78th birthday — shortly after relocating to a $13.5 million home in the Florida Keys. It remains unknown how she had been registered to vote before that.
Though her party affiliation is now public record, Sweeney has not made any political statements, nor has she publicly endorsed Trump.
