Throughout history, authoritarians and dictators have understood the power of the arts, both as a means of control and as a dangerous form of resistance. From Hitler's censorship of "degenerate art" to Stalin's iron grip on Soviet cultural expression to Kim Il Sung using the arts in North Korea to glorify his rule as Supreme Leader, strongmen have either sought to silence artists or to co-opt them into serving their agendas. In Trump's second term, we are seeing these familiar patterns emerge in the United States. His recent takeover of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and his ban on drag performances (more on this later) are not isolated cultural policies – they are part of a broader, more insidious effort to reshape American culture in his image, just as autocrats before him have done.
Trump's Long and Complicated History with the Arts
Donald Trump's relationship with the arts has always been transactional. He has never shown a genuine appreciation for artistic expression as a means of cultural or intellectual enrichment. Instead, he used art to inflate his ego, attempted to erase or defund art that challenged him, or manipulated cultural institutions to reinforce his power.
In keeping with his pattern of behavior where history repeats itself, his past actions foreshadowed what is happening now. In the 1980s, Trump famously demolished Art Deco sculptures meant to be preserved in the Bonwit Teller Building to make way for Trump Tower. It was a literal destruction of beauty and history in service of his ambition. In 2017, he disbanded the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities after its members resigned in protest over his response to the Charlottesville white nationalist rally. I remember vividly watching this play out while in my role at the Department of Homeland Security. It was apparent then, as it is now, that artistic voices, especially those that challenge bigotry and autocracy, would not be tolerated in Trump's America. Former President Joe Biden restored the Committee, but in Trump's first executive order of his second term, he revoked it again. Never mind that former President Ronald Reagan established the initiative aimed to enhance the nation's cultural life without relying solely on federal funding by establishing public-private partnerships. The original DOGE concept without the foolery?
Then there's Trump's approach to using the arts for his personal glorification. Let's be honest, his so-called "National Garden of American Heroes," reinstated this term, is not about celebrating American culture. The more likely explanation, given his narcissistic personality, is his ongoing positioning of himself as a defender of traditional American values and heritage. It's an attempt to align himself with these celebrated figures, enhancing his own legacy. The question remains: will this be a genuine celebration of diverse American contributions or a curated group of icons designed to reinforce his vision of national identity? The inclusion process will reveal much about the administration's goals for American history – and who is deemed worthy of remembrance. Place your bets and watch this space.
This is what autocrats do: they rewrite history in stone and marble, curating which figures are worthy of adulation while erasing those who might challenge their narrative. And while we're on the topic of sculptures, don't lose track of Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida's bill proposing that President Donald Trump be carved into Mount Rushmore. Your tax dollars at work, ladies and gentlemen.
The Kennedy Center Takeover and the Death of Free Expression
One of Trump's most bizarre and random moves in his second term has been his recent takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It isn't just symbolic – it was a calculated move to control one of the nation's most important cultural institutions. By exploiting executive authority, he dismissed existing board members. His appointment of himself as chairman was a first in history, an act more in line with authoritarian leaders who directly oversee state-sponsored arts programs. The first significant change (other than an AI-generated image of himself as a symphony conductor)? A ban on drag performances. It's all part of marginalizing and erasing the LGBTQ+ community and expression, just as authoritarian regimes have done in the past. The slow burn of there is only one version of America, and dissenting voices will be silenced. Again, the pattern: the media, drag queens…the arts…
This move mirrors actions taken by authoritarian leaders like Viktor Orbán in Hungary, who has reshaped his nation's cultural institutions to serve his regime's ideological goals. Trump's restructuring of the Kennedy Center is part of the same playbook: purge independent voices, install loyalists like Richard Grenell, whom he just tapped to be the interim director of the Kennedy Center, and dictate the terms of artistic expression.
The Erasure of Government-Supported Art
Beyond his attempts to control the arts, Trump has worked to eliminate public funding for artistic expression. In his first term, he repeatedly attempted to gut the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), two organizations that have long supported independent, thought-provoking work. While Congress ultimately blocked those efforts at the time, his return to the Oval Office gives him a renewed opportunity to defund the arts and silence creative voices.
Another authoritarian hallmark: Dictators do not want publicly funded, independent artistic expression because they cannot control it. They prefer state-sponsored art that glorifies them or reinforces their preferred narratives. Just look at how the Nazis promoted propaganda films while suppressing modernist and experimental works. Trump's attempts to starve independent arts of funding while pushing a sanitized, nationalist version of culture follow this same pattern. It's the perfect Russell Vought dream!
The Criminalization of Artists Who Defy the Agenda
Targeting artwork that does not align with an authoritarian agenda is designed to isolate the artists. Suddenly, their work and their very existence become criminal in nature. Once celebrated for pushing cultural boundaries, dissenting artists are recast as threats to the state. Their art is deemed subversive, their performances restricted, and their presence outlawed. This tactic is as old as authoritarianism itself. By criminalizing certain forms of artistic expression, regimes force artists into exile, silence them, or use the power of law to imprison them. The message is clear: comply with the sanctioned narrative or face the consequences. This is not just censorship; it is cultural warfare, which Trump excels at despite his claims of being focused on the economy. Therefore, we must remain vigilant about what he does next when it comes to the arts. It’s another indicator of what’s to come. Watch your back Kendrick Lamar!
Fearing the Arts
The reason leaders like Trump, Putin, and Orbán go after the arts is simple: free artistic expression is one of the most powerful forces of resistance. Throughout history, artists have played a crucial role in exposing injustice, rallying opposition, and envisioning a better future.
Consider the role of protest music in the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the power of samizdat – the underground literature in Soviet Russia. The arts offer a way to communicate ideas that authoritarian regimes want to be suppressed. That is why Trump's efforts to reshape or silence artistic expression should alarm us all. It is not about personal taste. It is about consolidating power by controlling the culture itself.
So, what can we do? The first step is recognizing that these attacks on the arts are not isolated—they are part of a broader strategy to erode democracy. Defunding, banning, and reshaping cultural institutions are the opening moves in a larger game of controlling public thought. If we allow Trump to dictate what art is acceptable, what performances are allowed, and which voices are heard-- we are conceding ground in the battle for democracy itself.
Artists, cultural leaders, and citizens alike must push back. That entails supporting independent art, funding grassroots cultural movements, and using creative expression as a means of resistance. It means refusing to allow institutions like the Kennedy Center to be transformed into state-controlled propaganda outlets. It necessitates calling out these authoritarian-like tactics for what they are: attacks on freedom of expression and democracy.
If history has taught us anything, it's that art and authoritarianism are natural enemies. Those who seek absolute power will always try to control creative expression. Still, as long as artists and free thinkers continue to create, resist, and challenge, the fight is far from over. Trump may try to dictate the future of American culture, but he cannot erase the voices of those of us who refuse to be silenced.
With love for the arts,
Former saxophone player, theater major, musical theater actress, and dancer,
Olivia
