WASHINGTON, DC — An audience at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, reacted with unrestrained boos, jeers, and shouts when they saw Vice President JD Vance take his seat at a classical music concert on Thursday night. The incident underscored a broader culture clash in the nation’s capital, which is experiencing political and cultural shifts under the second term of the Trump administration.
Work has also begun to remove a “Black Lives Matter” mural near the White House, and political columnist Jen Rubin recently resigned from The Washington Post in response to editorial changes reflecting the city’s shifting dynamics. The DC government is facing budget cuts and fears of an exodus of federal jobs due to Trump’s policies.
Sally Quinn, an author and socialite, expressed the feelings of many Washington residents: “Everybody feels the atmosphere is toxic here and you can’t get away from it. People are so distraught and so down and in despair. The question is, what can we do? That’s what people are asking in Washington. The biggest feeling of all is impotence: they can’t stop it.”
Trump’s take over of the Kennedy Center has led to artists canceling performances and a drop in ticket sales. The booing of JD Vance at a National Symphony Orchestra concert highlights the anger and frustration in the arts community. Vance publically admonished Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently, adding to the controversy around his attendance at an all-Russian program.
The removal of the “Black Lives Matter” mural, commissioned by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and emblematic of the city’s progressive values, symbolizes the challenges that Democrats and progressives face in Washington now that Republicans control both Congress and the White House. Washington is now facing its most urgent threat since it gained home rule under the Nixon administration, with potential dramatic cuts to its budget and services.
Progressive circle David Maraniss, former associate editor of The Washington Post, referred to the newspaper’s downward trajectory, possibly linked to Trump’s influence, as “depressing.” He worries about the damage to the paper’s ethos and the potential stifling of freedom of speech and thePress pursuit of truth. Many in Washington feel their city is under a form of occupation, watching as the levers of power shift towards conservative and nationalist causes.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/trump-washington-dc
