أصدرت وزارة الخارجية الأمريكية بيانًا صحفيًا وبرقية مقابلة تطلب من جميع المتقدمين للحصول على تأشيرات F و M و J تعيين جميع ملفاتهم الشخصية على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي على "عام" حتى يتمكن الموظفون القنصليون من مراجعة "كامل وجودهم على الإنترنت". يجب على الموظفين رفض الحالات مؤقتًا بموجب INA § 221(g) لإجراء فحص بعد المقابلة للتحقق من "المواقف العدائية تجاه المواطنين الأمريكيين أو الثقافة أو الحكومة أو المؤسسات أو المبادئ التأسيسية". تخلق هذه السياسة عوائق كبيرة وتأخيرات في المعالجة للطلاب الدوليين والمشاركين في التبادل الثقافي، مما يؤدي فعليًا إلى فحص التعبير الفني والسياسي كمعيار لأهلية الحصول على التأشيرة. يفرض هذا الشرط على الفنانين والموسيقيين والممارسين المسرحيين والطلاب تعريض جميع المحتويات على الإنترنت لمراقبة الحكومة والرقابة الذاتية على التعبير للحصول على تأشيرات للدراسة أو المشاركة في التبادل الثقافي في الولايات المتحدة. أعربت منظمات حقوق الإنسان عن قلقها من أن هذا العائق أمام الدخول قد يستخدم للتمييز ضد المتقدمين للحصول على تأشيرة الذين لا تتوافق آراؤهم أو معتقداتهم مع الإدارة الرئاسية الحالية.

On May 20, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued Secretarial Order 3431, instructing the National Park Service and other Interior-managed cultural sites to remove or revise all content, signage, imagery, descriptions, depictions, and narratives that “innappropriately disparage Americans past or present” in line with Executive Order 14253. The order resulted in the removal of historical content related to slavery and Indigenous resistance at several park sites. Notable examples include the removal of “The Scourged Back” exhibit at Fort Pulaski National Monument (GA), along with the deletion of climate-change signage at Acadia National Park (ME) and the alteration of Indigenous-history displays at Muir Woods National Monument (CA) and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (NY).

في 2 مايو 2025، أرسلت المؤسسة الوطنية للفنون (NEA) إخطارات إنهاء وسحب إلى مئات المنظمات الفنية في جميع أنحاء البلاد، على أن تصبح سارية المفعول في 31 مايو 2025. وجاء في رسائل البريد الإلكتروني أن NEA "تقوم بتحديث أولويات سياستها في منح المنح لتركيز التمويل على المشاريع التي تعكس التراث الفني الغني للبلاد وإبداعها وفقًا لأولويات الرئيس". وشملت المنظمات المتأثرة شركات مسرحية ومجلات أدبية وفرق رقص ومتاحف ومهرجانات من جميع الأنواع، مع منح تتراوح بين 10,000 و 100,000 دولار. وأثارت عمليات الإلغاء الواسعة النطاق مخاوف بشأن الرقابة وتقييد التعبير الفني في مختلف المجتمعات.

On May 2, 2025, the Trump administration released its FY2026 “skinny budget” proposal, calling for the complete elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library Services. The proposal also indicated a 15% cut to the Department of Education, with plans to consolidate multiple K-12 grant programs. Arts advocates warn that eliminating federal arts funding would devastate cultural organizations and reduce access to arts education nationwide.

On May 1, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease all direct and indirect federal funding to NPR and PBS, citing alleged political bias. The order affects approximately 1,500 local public radio and television stations nationwide that rely on CPB funding for educational and cultural programming, particularly in rural and underserved communities. CPB, PBS, and NPR have stated the order is unlawful, arguing that CPB is a congressionally created independent entity not subject to presidential authority, and filed suits on first amendment and other grounds. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes approximately $535 million annually in federal funds to public media.

On April 2, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its Policy Manual to recognize only two “biological sexes”—male and female—based on birth certificates issued at or near time of birth, pursuant to Executive Order 14168 “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” signed January 20, 2025. The policy eliminates the “X” gender marker option and requires all immigration benefit applications to indicate sex as male or female based on birth records. The policy directly impacts transgender and nonbinary artists, including US citizens and those applying for O-1, P-1, P-3, and other work visas. Canadian musician Bells Larsen, whose album explores trans experience, canceled his June 2025 U.S. tour after receiving guidance from the American Federation of Musicians that applicants with gender markers changed from birth certificates would face visa difficulties. The policy applies to all pending and new applications filed on or after April 2, 2025.

في 27 مارس 2025، أصدر الرئيس ترامب الأمر التنفيذي رقم 14253 بعنوان "استعادة الحقيقة والعقلانية إلى التاريخ الأمريكي"، الذي يوجه مؤسسة سميثسونيان بإزالة المعروضات والبرامج التي تعتبر أنها تحتوي على "أيديولوجية غير لائقة" أو محتوى "يحط من قدر الأمريكيين بشكل غير لائق". وأشار الأمر على وجه التحديد إلى معرض "شكل القوة: قصص عن العرق والنحت الأمريكي" في متحف سميثسونيان للفن الأمريكي كمثال على المحتوى المثير للانقسام، مدعياً أنه يصور القيم الأمريكية والغربية على أنها "ضارة وقمعية بطبيعتها". وأمر الأمر نائب الرئيس ومكتب الإدارة والميزانية بالعمل مع الكونغرس لضمان أن تمنع مخصصات سميثسونيان المستقبلية الإنفاق على المعارض أو البرامج التي "تحط من شأن القيم الأمريكية المشتركة، أو تقسم الأمريكيين على أساس العرق، أو تروج لبرامج أو أيديولوجيات تتعارض مع القانون والسياسة الفيدرالية". أدان المؤرخون والمتخصصون في المتاحف وأعضاء الكونغرس هذا التوجيه باعتباره رقابة سياسية على المؤسسات الثقافية المدعومة اتحاديًا وانتهاكًا لاستقلالية متحف سميثسونيان في تنفيذ مهمته التعليمية.

In 2025, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) introduced legislation threatening to withhold at least $185 million in federal transportation funds from Washington, D.C. unless the city removed the “Black Lives Matter” mural and renamed the plaza “Liberty Plaza.” Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on March 4 that the city would paint over the mural, and removal began March 10, with the mayor stating the city could not “afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference.” Critics characterized the funding threat as federal coercion to suppress local artistic and political expression.

On February 14, 2025, the National Park Service removed all references to “transgender” and “queer” from the Stonewall National Monument website, changing “LGBTQ+” to “LGB” and erasing mentions of transgender activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera who were central to the 1969 uprising. The Park Service stated the changes were made to comply with Trump executive orders on “restoring biological truth to the federal government.” The Stonewall Inn and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups condemned the action as a “blatant act of erasure” that distorts the history of the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and dishonors transgender contributions to the movement. Weeks later, the NPS also removed entire web pages dedicated to transgender activists from the site.

On February 7, President Trump announced he would dismiss 18 members of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees and appoint himself as chairman, marking the first time a president has mass-fired board members or assumed leadership of the prestigious performing arts institution. Trump stated the center had featured “drag shows specifically targeting our youth” and vowed “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA,” installing Richard Grenell as interim executive director to reshape programming. Following the takeover, the Kennedy Center canceled LGBTQ+ programming including WorldPride concerts and performances by the Gay Men’s Chorus, and dismantled the Social Impact team focused on serving underserved communities. This move imposes an unprecedented degree of government oversight onto the curatorial decisions of the Kennedy Center, and has already resulted in the discriminatory cancellation of artist groups out of favor with the Presidential administration.

On February 7, 2025 President Trump fired Colleen Shogan as head of the National Archives and Records Administration, marking the first time a sitting president has removed the National Archivist since the position was established in the 1930s. The firing represented an unprecedented assertion of presidential authority over an independent federal agency responsible for preserving and presenting American historical records and cultural heritage. While Trump cited the Archives’ role in the classified documents investigation, the removal occurred amid ongoing controversy over Shogan’s October 2024 directive to staff to remove or minimize exhibits on slavery, civil rights leaders, Japanese-American internment, and Indigenous displacement. Historians and civil rights organizations condemned the firing as political interference in a nonpartisan cultural institution responsible for safeguarding the nation’s historical record.

In response to Executive Order 14151 (January 20, 2025), which mandated termination of all federal DEI programs and equity-related grants, the NEA cancelled its Challenge America grant program on February 6, 2025. Challenge America had supported small arts organizations serving underserved communities. The NEA revised its 2026 grant guidelines to prohibit DEI programs and “gender ideology,” prioritize America250 projects, and require a five-year organizational history. Organizations with pending applications were required to resubmit under the new criteria. Critics condemned the changes as censorship that imposed ideological conditions on arts funding. The ACLU and several other organizations filed suit against the NEA over its cancellation of funding arguing that The lawsuit argues that the grant-guidance restrictions—particularly the requirement that applicants avoid “promoting gender ideology”—unconstitutionally violate the First Amendment and exceed the agency’s lawful authority.