With Super Bowl Sunday coming on Feb. 8 in San Francisco, the matchup (Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots) has officially been confirmed. What’s also been confirmed? That President Donald Trump won’t be there. The reason why is apparently because “it’s just too far away,” as he told the press — but Gen Zers are inclined to believe it’s also because of Green Day and Bad Bunny.
On Jan. 18, it was announced that Green Day would perform at the Super Bowl 60 opening ceremony, and Bad Bunny was confirmed as the halftime show star back in September 2025. Both performances are predicted to get political, and Trump knows it. “I’m anti-them,” Trump told The New York Post on Jan. 24 about Green Day and Bad Bunny. “I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”
Green Day has a history of getting political and calling out Trump during their performances. On Jan. 17, the punk rock band used their performance at the 2026 iHeartRadio ALTer Ego concert series to pledge their support to anti-ICE protestors and criticize the Trump administration. “This song is anti-fascism. This song is anti-war. We stand up for our brothers and sisters in Minnesota,” frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told the audience before singing “Holiday.” Similarly, Trump and Bad Bunny have unsurprisingly never gotten along. The King of Latin Trap didn’t even include U.S. stops on his massive DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS World Tour, for fear of his fans being apprehended by ICE at the performances. Meanwhile, Trump told NewsMax after the announcement that Bad Bunny would be headlining the Super Bowl that he’s “never heard of” him, calling the choice “ridiculous.”
Having an overwhelmingly political band like Green Day and a Latin artist headline such a massive national event in the wake of the violent immigration crackdown is a statement in itself. And Gen Zers online are ecstatic about it.
Of course, there’s always the odd chance that the performers don’t bring politics into play and just focus on their performance. But, considering their outspoken histories, I doubt that will be the case. And frankly, I wouldn’t want it to be. It’s too important and way too obvious to not be brought up at all.
Either way, the night is destined to be filled with electric performances with Green Day’s punk rock hits and Bad Bunny’s irrefutable charm — and a little bit of football and amusing advertisements sprinkled in between. And unfortunately for him (but fortunately for a lot of people), Trump won’t be there to enjoy it.