President Donald Trump on Monday weighed in on clothing brand American Eagle’s provocative new ad campaign, praising its star, Sydney Sweeney, in remarks that appeared to boost the company’s stock price.

“If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,” Trump told reporters after learning of the “White Lotus” and “Euphoria” actor’s political party affiliation. He later commented on the controversial ad campaign a second time on Truth Social, praising it for not being “woke.”

The denim ad, which features the blond-haired, blue-eyed actor with the catchphrase “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” ignited a flurry of online criticism. Some said its apparent wordplay on “genes” promoted eugenics, a discredited theory that humanity can be improved through selective breeding.

Ahead of the ad’s launch, the company had told trade media outlets that it was “definitely going to push buttons” with its “clever, even provocative language,” according to the Associated Press, although American Eagle has since tried to play down the controversy.

In a statement posted to its Instagram account on Friday, American Eagle said the ad campaign “is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

American Eagle stock closed up more than 20 percent on Monday following Trump’s remarks.

Trump’s comments were far from the first time he has weighed in on a controversy that had little to do with his office. While his predecessors were often loath to discuss hot-button topics, the president has eagerly embraced — and amplified — culture war issues on social media.

His Truth Social post indicated that he sensed a political opportunity in the controversy.

“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves,’” his post began. “Go get ‘em Sydney!”

Sweeney, who has not yet responded publicly to the ad criticism, appears to be registered as a Republican in Florida, where state records show someone with her name and birth date.

Trump went on to criticize Jaguar and Bud Lite, claiming the companies had faced setbacks after woke ads backfired.

“The tide has seriously turned,” he continued. “Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be.”

Trump’s broader “anti-woke” agenda has included efforts to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government and to reshape the country’s arts and cultural landscape.

That has included a major overhaul of the Kennedy F. Center for the Performing Arts, drastic cuts at the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a March executive order to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.”

Within a few hours of Trump’s remarks on the American Eagle campaign Monday, others in his administration had followed suit.

The defense secretary “has great jeans,” an official Defense Department account posted on X above a picture of Pete Hegseth wearing blue jeans.

It didn’t say which brand.