Former President Donald Trump publicly endorsed American Eagle Outfitters’ new denim campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney after being told she is a registered Republican. In a Newsmax interview recorded 1 Aug. and aired the following day, Trump said, “If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,” adding that he was surprised by the political leanings of some entertainers. The American Eagle campaign was launched on 23 July with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” Critics on social media accused the spot’s word-play on “genes” of echoing eugenics rhetoric, prompting the retailer on 1 Aug. to reaffirm that the commercial “always was about the jeans” and to celebrate “how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence.” Attention intensified over the weekend when screenshots of Florida voter-registration records circulated online, purporting to show Sweeney registered as a Republican in 2024. The disclosure, which the actress has not commented on, shifted the debate from the ad’s creative content to Sweeney’s personal politics and drew Trump’s intervention.