Trump’s Y.M.C.A. anthem and ICE crackdown fuel backlash

Donald Trump flew on the Qatar-gifted Boeing 747 for the first time Wednesday, heading to North Dakota for a dedication ceremony at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. The trip came as his administration kept pressing a tougher immigration agenda through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the Department of Homeland Security saying ICE had passed 10,000 gang-member arrests under Trump.

A federal judge in California vacated Trump administration policies that expanded arrests at immigration courthouses and lengthened detention for some noncitizens. Two days later, the administration asked the Supreme Court to approve a broader expansion of mandatory ICE detention for people who had lived in the United States for years.

In February, the Council on Foreign Relations said the administration had significantly ramped up immigration enforcement to meet deportation goals. The American Immigration Council said ICE was making roughly 300 arrests per day in late 2024 before Trump took office, with about two-thirds of those arrests classified as custodial.

The Village People’s 1978 hit “Y.M.C.A.” appeared at Trump’s events during his pre-inauguration and post-election appearances, and the group performed the song at a December 5, 2025, World Cup draw event at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Trump revisited the song again on July 1.

The Boeing 747 was donated by the Qatari royal family and underwent extensive modifications before it was cleared for presidential use as Air Force One. The U.S. Air Force said on May 1 that testing had been completed and the aircraft was expected to debut in summer 2026. The flight came during the administration’s 250th-anniversary commemorations.