The U.S. Department of Defense has taken down and reissued a promotional video on military drone advancements after Metallica raised a copyright complaint over the unauthorized use of their song Enter Sandman.
The original video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on July 10, features Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promoting the Trump administration’s recent push to expand the nation’s drone capabilities. In it, a drone delivers a memo to Hegseth, who signs the document titled “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance.” Speaking directly to the camera, Hegseth declares: “This is the future. We’re in the fight. We’re in the fight to win it. And we’re never gonna back down.”
Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance @DOGE pic.twitter.com/esaQtswwDb
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) July 11, 2025
The clip was originally set to Metallica’s 1991 hit Enter Sandman. Shortly after it was published, users on X questioned whether the band had authorized the song’s use. A day later, a Metallica spokesperson confirmed to Rolling Stone that the song had been used without permission.
In response to the copyright strike, the Pentagon removed the video and reposted it without the music.
“This afternoon, representatives from X reached out to DoD regarding a video posted to our social media page and asked that the video be removed due to a copyright issue with the song ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica,” Wilson tells Newsweek. “The video has been taken down, corrected, and re-uploaded to our page.”
Metallica has largely stayed away from political endorsements but has a long record of protecting the rights to its music. The band famously sued Napster in 2000 over unauthorized file sharing and has previously objected to its music being used by the U.S. military. In 2013, a Navy SEAL told Esquire that Metallica requested their songs not be used during interrogations, saying: “Metallica got wind of this and they said, ‘Hey, please don’t use our music because we don’t want to promote violence.’”
President Donald Trump has previously provoked the ire of musicians, including Elton John, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Guns N’ Roses, for using songs at rallies and campaign events without consent.
In 2024, The White Stripes sued Trump over the use of “Seven Nation Army” in a campaign video, accusing him of “flagrant misappropriation.” The band dropped the lawsuit in November that year, dismissing it without prejudice.