President Donald Trump is praising Sydney Sweeney in the wake of backlash against the American actress for her controversial American Eagle advertisement.

"Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there," he wrote in a Truth Social post. "Go get 'em Sydney!"

The Emmy-nominated actress for roles in Euphoria and The White Lotus stars in a denim jeans advertisement, where she states: "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue."

Critics have called out the blonde, blue-haired actress's wordplay in the commercial, using "genes" instead of "jeans" - sparking debate over race and Western beauty standards.

American Eagle has defended the advert and stated it was - and still is - only about the company's jeans.

What is the controversy?

The clothing store American Eagle released a jeans advertisement featuring 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 people on social media.

Some criticised the "genes" pun coming from a blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress as echoing rhetoric associated with eugenics - a discredited belief that humanity could be improved through selective breeding.

Conservatives backed Sweeney and labelled the outrage as overblown and "woke". Reports then surfaced that Sweeney is a registered Republican.

Shortly after, Trump made comments about the saga and expressed his support for her.

Sweeney, herself, has not commented on the matter.

What has American Eagle said?

American Eagle has responded to the controversy and said the ad 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. Great jeans look good on everyone."

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

That did not surprise Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, who said American Eagle "nailed" the advertisement.

"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 advertisements have to be "extraordinary" for people to share them, "whether that's extraordinary good or extraordinarily bad," he said.

Mr Adamson said the social media buzz American Eagle is getting from the advertisement is worth ten or 20 times what the store spent on creating it.

Is Sweeney a Republican?

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.

What has Trump said about it?

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.