It didn’t take long for Jay-Z and Beyonce’s controversial trip to Cuba to spark even more controversy, and this controversy was so great that the White House had to step in.

It’s no secret that Jay-Z just went on a trip to Cuba last week, which is a rarity considering that the U.S. has had a ban on traveling to this country for the past 50 years.  The trip has left many people wondering exactly how Jay-Z and Beyonce pulled off this feat, but the White House wants everyone to know that their clearance for the trip didn’t happen exactly as Jay-Z rapped in a song.

After receiving criticism from Republican politicians over the trip to the embargoed country, Jay-Z released the song “Open Letter” as his response.  Cuban Senator Marco Rubio was particularly critical of the trip and said, “U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime.”

Not only did “Open Letter” get more than half a million listens within hours of the song’s release, a couple of lines gave the White House reason to address the trip and song.  The lines read, “Boy from the hood but got White House clearance” and “Obama said, ‘Chill you gonna get me impeached.'”

While a lot of people would probably take “Open Letter” with a grain of salt and realize that Jay-Z was probably embellishing on certain details a little, the White House didn’t take any chances and addressed the song and trip today.

The White House categorically denies giving Jay-Z and Beyonce clearance to go to Cuba.  White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement saying “the White House and the president had nothing to do with … anybody’s travel to Cuba.”  Carney said that the trip is something that is handled by the Treasury Department, not Obama or the White House.  Carney later joked that the reason Jay-Z referred to the White House and Obama in the song instead of the Treasury Department was because “nothing rhymes with Treasury.”

Now that it is cleared up that Jay-Z didn’t use any special connections with Obama to make it to Cuba, for those wondering how the two pulled off the trip, the process is far less interesting.  If a group wants to visit Cuba as a cultural trip, they only have to submit a request to the Treasury Department.

Interestingly enough, the Treasury Department released a statement earlier this week saying they didn’t even realize that Jay-Z and Beyonce were part of the group going on the trip.  Even though the fact that the trip occurred on the couple’s wedding anniversary makes it a little suspect, they did report of reaching out to Cuban locals.