As a child, I ignored my family’s advice to steer clear of delivering bad news. Now, as part of Hyperallergic’s News Team, I’ve spent the past year documenting President Trump’s influence on America’s revered arts and cultural institutions. This includes entities like the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Throughout 2025, Hyperallergic has covered local disputes over art that provide deeper insights into a politically charged year in the United States. The rapid succession of policy changes, executive actions, and judicial rulings, compounded by Trump’s “flood the zone” tactic, has made it difficult even for journalists to keep up with developments in art institutions. This led me to compile a monthly summary of how US politics affected the cultural sphere in 2025.
The Trump administration’s actions against artists and arts organizations can be divided into three main areas: politically driven grant reductions, financial instability, and increasing concerns about First Amendment rights concerning freedom of expression. While some of Trump’s mandates, such as banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in federal agencies, have stuck, other attempts to curtail arts funding faced legal challenges. The broader impacts remain uncertain, such as the effect of ‘content corrections’ on the Smithsonian’s 21 museums and zoo.
Artists have actively opposed the Trump administration, including by resisting the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil and protesting actions against immigrants. They have formed free-speech organizations and led demonstrations against the president. The following stories, linked below, represent the Trump administration’s reach into the arts throughout 2025. Please, bear with the messenger.
In January, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art, both funded by the federal government, closed their DEI departments following an executive order from the president. Shortly after Trump’s election, the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, removed a For Freedoms billboard featuring a famous Bloody Sunday image, which provocatively included the slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ sparking censorship allegations.
