From raging against DEI initiatives to taking over the Kennedy Center, Trump has used his first month in office to severely change the cultural landscape of the USA.
On Sunday, Julianne Moore revealed that her children’s book ‘Freckleface Strawberry’ had been “banned by the Trump Administration” from schools run by the Department of Defence.
The Still Alice actor, who had attended a Department of Defence-run school as her father was a Vietnam veteran, expressed her “shock” that her 2007 semi-autobiographical story about a girl accepting her freckles was one of the many books now forbidden by the Trump administration in a review of library books “potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics”.
Moore’s case made headlines for two reasons. First is that she’s an internationally renowned Oscar-winning celebrity. The second is the absurdity of a new government censoring a feel-good story about children embracing their bodies.
‘Freckleface Strawberry’ is only the tip of the iceberg. In the month since Donald Trump returned to office as President of the United States, his administration has already taken huge swings at changing culture.
Book banning
Children’s literature has been one of the major targets of the new Republican government. The DoD memo has stripped 67,000 children in 160 Pentagon schools across the US and 11 countries – including 65 schools in Germany, Türkiye, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, and Belgium – from access to books on topics such as Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In line with Trump’s executive orders Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling, schools have also been instructed to no longer use preferred pronoun email signatures and any reference to “gender” must be replaced by “sex”.
Trump’s attack on children’s education includes instructions against education around race and racism. His administration has banned the celebration of Black History Month, and a ban of the New York Times’ 1619 Project, an anthology created on the 400th anniversary of American slavery to recentre US history around the contribution of Black Americans.
Last week, the Department of Education’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor issued a letter that threatened to withhold federal funds to educational institutions that engage in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training, programming, and discipline.
This ban against DEI was twisted by Trainor as an attempt to affirm US anti-discrimination laws in education. “In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families,” his letter said. “These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia.”
DEI has come under a more general attack under Trump. He has called for all efforts for DEI in “areas ranging from airline safety to the military” under Biden to be reviewed for their “immense public waste and shameful discrimination.”
Trump’s influence in government has also passed down into private companies. Major corporations including McDonalds, Meta, Goldman Sachs and Disney, have all put aside DEI initiatives – such as inclusive hiring policies – out of concern for a Department of Justice memo directing it “to investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector.”
Kennedy Center takeover
One of the most visible ways Trump has exerted control over US culture is through his takeover of the Kennedy Center. Formed in the 1950s, the Washington DC-based complex is the “National Culture Centre”. It has held events showcasing the variety of theatrical and musical acts across the country as well as annual ceremonies honouring American artists.
In his 2017-2020 term, Trump was the first president to routinely skip the honours ceremony. But Trump’s indifference to the institution has washed away for his second term.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”
Trump then ousted many members of the Kennedy Center’s board, typically made up of a bipartisan split of appointees. He removed incumbent board chair David M. Rubenstein unanimously anointed himself as chair, alongside a new board of trustees comprising his supporters.
“President Trump’s self-described ‘takeover’ of the Kennedy Center is another salvo in his demonstrated attack on free expression,” said Hadar Harris He is taking the unprecedented move of clearing out board members “who do not share our vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” Presidents should not be dictating a singular view of culture. The cultural sector must remain free from political control; that is fundamental to protecting creative freedom in a democracy.
Within the centre, there has also been a fallout. Kennedy Center consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming have resigned and actor Issa Rae and author Louise Penny have cancelled appearances. During a concert last weekend that proceeded as scheduled, singer-songwriter Victoria Clark wore a T-shirt reading “ANTI TRUMP AF.”
Impact abroad
Trump’s policies will also affect culture abroad. Via cost-cutting guidance from South African billionaire Elon Musk, he has frozen almost all foreign aid that was given through the USAID programme.
Headlines have rightly focused on how USAID’s gutting will impact millions of vulnerable people around the world. Initiatives providing vital food, medicine and contraception have been unilaterally stopped.
In Europe, concerns have been raised as to how Ukraine will fare without USAID’s humanitarian assistance. USAID is also crucial in funding some key cultural institutions across Europe. Some of the money set aside for Ukraine was specifically for culture. USAID was crucial in reopening the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015.
“It’s not only a blow financially,” explains Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra and Project Leader of the European Heritage Hub, “it’s also a blow politically as it means the US will not give priority to supporting cultural initiatives.”
Using the example of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, USAID played a vital role in creating the “support for a national body to keep Bosnia and Herzegovina together”, she says. Western Balkan nations and Ukraine are prime examples of those that benefited greatly from USAID’s plurality-seeking mission.
All these measures threaten the beliefs that underpinned the foundation of blocs like the European Union, championing unity across national borders, Quaedvlieg-Mihailović says. As Europe comes under attack from its “traditional allies”, the response must be a strategic move from Europe to make investment in culture a continued priority.
In one month, Trump has used his position as chief executive to embolden the far-right through cultural attacks domestically and abroad. Looking forward, Quaedvlieg-Mihailović argues the response will have to also come “from the cultural world: actors, musicians, performers all have been opposing and continue to oppose this,” she says. “It’s another proof of the important role of world culture and the positive relationship and dialogue between people.”