Coexistence
When Mike Pence, Donald Trump's incoming vice president, saw the Broadway musical "Hamilton" in 2016, with a black actor playing the role of the USA's founder, the ensemble turned directly to Pence from the stage and asked for a presidential administration that could work "for everyone".
Such protests will not happen now, according to NY Times podcaster Jon Carmanica: If the first presidential term was seen as a "historical glitch", an unlikely exception, it is now about coexisting.
In Artnet, museum representatives instead talk about the need for a new defense pact for freedom of expression and diversity, a Pen for museums. Linda Zachrison, currently the head of Gothenburg City Theatre, believes that the survival of libraries, theaters, and museums themselves will be the great challenge.
It is politics in itself. The most important thing is that they continue to exist.
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Grateful satire
"The Daily Show" has its hands full making satire about everything from Donald Trump's dance moves to the Republican meme where the iconic Hollywood sign – in the midst of the ongoing fires in Los Angeles – was changed to "Trump was right".
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Federal cultural grants
The grant to the USA's federal cultural fund, The National Endowment of the Arts, NEA, is no larger than the cultural budget of the city of New York, notes NY Times. Yet, Donald Trump tried to cut it every year. Other things were more important than culture, according to Trump, who also dissolved the president's advisory cultural committee.
NEA was, however, saved by Democrats and Republicans in Congress who together formed a "protective wall".
Will Trump succeed better this time? The Republicans have a majority in Congress and the incoming president has appointed Elon Musk to lead a new special department, Doge, to "reduce wasteful spending".
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Courtly media
The Trump-friendly billionaires also influence the media. Mark Zuckerberg's Meta stops fact-checking posts on Facebook and Instagram in the USA – which is considered to benefit, among others, extreme right-wing accounts that support Trump.
Cartoonist Ann Telnaes recently quit her job at Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post after the newspaper refused to publish one of her images. The drawing depicted Bezos, one of the richest in the world, along with Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman, kneeling and handing over bags of money to a Trump-like figure.
All three have also donated one million dollars each to Donald Trump's inauguration.
