Green Day change ‘American Idiot’ lyric to diss Donald Trump during Coachella performance

It’s that time of year when a bunch of influencers and Americans head out to the desert for a weekend and watch some of the biggest names in music perform.

Yep, Coachella, essentially Glastonbury with that US aesthetic.

This year has the likes of Lady Gaga, Charli XCX and Post Malone taking to the stage. And before Travis Scott’s headline set last night (12 April), Green Day were on the main stage for weekend one. Known for often tweaking their songs to send a message, the rock band made their feelings clear when they performed one of their biggest hits.

When it got to performing ‘American Idiot’, the Californians made a lyric change to diss Donald Trump on stage.

It’s something the punk rockers have done plenty of times before, having previously called out Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk.

Led by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day already had the crowd absolutely ramped up before adding a further political undertone to their performance.

In tradition of tweaking the ‘American Idiot’ lyrics, the line ‘I’m not a part of a redneck agenda’ was changed to: “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.”

As Rolling Stone wrote in their review of the band’s headlining performance, there ‘were no political overtures or lengthy speeches’ but for a couple of moments. Instead, Green Day’s messages ‘are embedded into the music already.'

The Coachella set also made comment on the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict as changes were made to the lyrics of ‘Jesus of Suburbia’.

Armstrong replaced the original line ‘Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimised’, when he sang: “Runnin’ away from pain like the kids from Palestine/Tales from another broken home.”

That’s the same song the band recently tweaked to take aim at the US’ Vice President.

During a gig in Melbourne last month, Armstrong changed the lyrics from ‘Am I r***ded or am I just overjoyed’ to the damming: “Am I r***ded or am I just JD Vance?”

In that same performance, the frontman had also said to the crowd: “Don’t you want politicians to shut the f**k up? Don’t you want Elon Musk to shut the f**k up? Don’t you want Donald Trump to shut the f**k up?”

And back in January, while performing in Musk’s birthplace of South Africa, the ‘American Idiot’ lyrics were again changed to say: “I’m not part of the Elon agenda.”

Reacting to the set this weekend, users wrote on X that it was one of the ‘best Coachella performances in years’, as another wrote: “Punk is BACK.”