Why is Donald Trump discussing Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle

President Donald Trump has praised actress Sydney Sweeney in the wake of a social media backlash against an advertisement she features in.

“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. “Go get ’em Sydney!”

The Emmy-nominated actress, who starred in Euphoria and The White Lotus, appears in a jeans advertisement for American Eagle where she says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.”

Some criticised the 27-year-old blue-eyed star’s wordplay in the commercial, which sparked a debate over race and beauty standards.

American Eagle has defended the advert, saying it is purely referring to the company’s denim jeans.

American Eagle released the advertising campaign with Sweeney on 23 July.

The slogan “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” appeared on television, social media and on the outside of storefronts.

Almost instantly, it received pushback from some on social media.

They criticised the advert’s genes pun – including one line which said the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress “has great jeans” – as echoing rhetoric associated with eugenics, the discredited belief that humanity could be improved through selective breeding.

Others, however, backed Sweeney and described the outrage as overblown.

Reports later surfaced that Sweeney is a registered Republican in Florida. Shortly after, Trump made comments about the row and expressed his support for the actress, whom he described as a “registered Republican”.

Sweeney, meanwhile, has not commented on the backlash or confirmed her political affiliation.

The company said the campaign “is and always was about the jeans”.

“Her jeans. Her story,” American Eagle said. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way.”

Since Trump began speaking about the advertisement on Monday, the company’s stock has skyrocketed and was up by as much as 20%.

Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, said American Eagle “nailed” the ad.

“It is exponentially harder than it was years ago,” he told the BBC. “Success in marketing today is to get consumers sharing [advertisements] on social.”

But they have to be “extraordinary” for people to share them, “whether that’s extraordinarily good or extraordinarily bad,” he said.

He added that the social media buzz American Eagle is getting from the advertisement is worth 10 or 20 times what the company spent on making it.

Sweeney has been registered as a Republican in the state of Florida since 2024, records show.

But she has not spoken out about politics.

She made headlines in 2023 when videos and images from her mother’s birthday party were shared online and showed some attendees in Make America Great Again hats.

Sweeney responded and said people should “stop making assumptions” and turning the “innocent celebration” into an “absurd political statement.”

Months later, she was asked about it in an interview: “Honestly, I feel like nothing I say can help the conversation,” she told GQ.

“It’s been turning into a wildfire, and nothing I can say will take it back to the correct track,” she added.

On Sunday, reporters travelling with the US president asked him about Sweeney.

“You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans,” Trump said after a reporter stated that the White Lotus star is a registered Republican.

“That’s what I wouldn’t have known, but I’m glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,” Trump said on Sunday.

Even before Trump weighed in, the saga had been the focus of conservative media with some suggesting the advert had been not only a great promotion for American Eagle – but also for the political party.