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 The order resulted in the removal of historical content related to slavery and Indigenous resistance at several park sites.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).

El 8 de mayo de 2025, el presidente Trump destituyó abruptamente a la Dra. Carla Hayden como bibliotecaria del Congreso. Inicialmente no se dio ninguna razón formal, pero más tarde la Casa Blanca acusó a Hayden de «promover iniciativas de diversidad, equidad e inclusión» y «colocar libros inapropiados en la biblioteca para niños». La destitución se produjo antes de que finalizara su mandato de diez años y provocó una gran preocupación por la injerencia del ejecutivo en la independencia de la Biblioteca del Congreso, una institución cultural y archivística creada constitucionalmente y encargada de preservar el acceso imparcial al conocimiento y las artes. Los críticos advirtieron que este tipo de destituciones politizadas amenazan la independencia institucional y sientan un precedente para la injerencia del ejecutivo en la gobernanza cultural nacional.

El 2 de mayo de 2025, la Fundación Nacional para las Artes (NEA) envió notificaciones de rescisión y retirada a cientos de organizaciones artísticas de todo el país, con efecto a partir del 31 de mayo de 2025. Los correos electrónicos indicaban que la NEA estaba «actualizando sus prioridades en materia de concesión de subvenciones para centrar la financiación en proyectos que reflejen el rico patrimonio artístico y la creatividad de la nación, según las prioridades del presidente». Entre las organizaciones afectadas se encontraban compañías de teatro, revistas literarias, grupos de danza, museos y festivales de todo tipo, con subvenciones que oscilaban entre los 10 000 y los 100 000 dólares. Las cancelaciones generalizadas suscitaron preocupación por la censura y el enfriamiento de la expresión artística en diversas comunidades.

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.

A principios de abril de 2025, el Departamento de Eficiencia Gubernamental (DOGE) ordenó a la Fundación Nacional para las Humanidades que cancelara más de 1400 subvenciones, incluida toda la financiación del año fiscal 2025 destinada a los consejos estatales de humanidades, lo que afectó a museos, bibliotecas, lugares históricos y programas culturales de todo el país. Las cancelaciones de subvenciones, que ascendían a un total de aproximadamente 175 millones de dólares en fondos no desembolsados, se comunicaron mediante correos electrónicos enviados a altas horas de la noche del 2 de abril de 2025. Posteriormente, los tribunales federales dictaminaron que las cancelaciones eran ilegales, aunque la financiación sigue bloqueada a la espera de la resolución del litigio.

El 27 de marzo de 2025, el presidente Trump emitió la Orden Ejecutiva 14253 titulada «Restaurar la verdad y la cordura a la historia estadounidense», en la que ordenaba a la Institución Smithsonian retirar las exposiciones y programas que se consideraran que contenían «ideología inadecuada» o contenidos que «despreciaran de forma inapropiada a los estadounidenses». La orden citaba específicamente «La forma del poder: historias de raza y escultura estadounidense» en el Museo Smithsonian de Arte Estadounidense como ejemplo de contenido divisivo, alegando que retrataba los valores estadounidenses y occidentales como «intrínsecamente dañinos y opresivos». La orden instruía al vicepresidente y a la Oficina de Gestión y Presupuesto a colaborar con el Congreso para garantizar que las futuras asignaciones presupuestarias al Smithsonian prohibieran el gasto en exposiciones o programas que «degraden los valores estadounidenses compartidos, dividan a los estadounidenses por motivos raciales o promuevan programas o ideologías incompatibles con la legislación y la política federal». Historiadores, profesionales de museos y miembros del Congreso condenaron la directiva como una censura política de las instituciones culturales financiadas con fondos federales y una violación de la independencia del Smithsonian para llevar a cabo su misión educativa.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a cable titled “Action Request: Enhanced Screening and Social Media Vetting for Visa Applicants” requiring consular officers to refer all F-1 (academic student), J-1 (exchange visitor), and M-1 (vocational student) visa applicants to Fraud Prevention Units for mandatory social media checks. The cable requires consular officers to refer all F-1, M-1, and J-1 visa applicants to Fraud Prevention Units for mandatory social media checks, with particular focus on applicants who held student/exchange visas between October 7, 2023 and August 31, 2024. Officers must screen for terrorism-related ineligibilities, which the cable states may be evident in ‘conduct that bears a hostile attitude toward U.S. citizens or U.S. culture (including government, institutions, or founding principles). This policy directly impacts international students attending U.S. conservatories, theater programs, and arts universities, as well as cultural exchange participants including musicians, dancers, visual artists, and theater practitioners participating in J-1 exchange programs. The requirement creates a chilling effect on artistic and political expression as a condition for visa eligibility. The New York Times reported that more than 800 students lost their visas as a result of this policy as of April 2025.

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.