This week, the Trump administration was not holding back, taking some bold swings at a bunch of historically left-leaning government and cultural institutions.
We start at the Department of Education. On Thursday President Trump formally issued his anticipated executive order to dismantle the bloated agency (and brainchild of Jimmy Carter), which annually costs taxpayers ~$100B, and has presided over the steady, consistent decline of American public schools for 45 years. The few useful functions the defunct department had will be shifted to other agencies: the student loan portfolio will now be overseen by the Small Business Administration, and Health and Human Services will run point on services for disabled students, as well as school nutrition programs. I’d hazard that school lunches are going to look a hell of a lot better under RFK than they did Michelle Obama when it’s said and done.
The Trump administration also targeted elitist institutions of higher education this week.
Columbia University will reportedly end a standoff with the White House, and adhere to their list of demands to restore $400 million in funding frozen by the Trump administration in wake of their inability to subdue student-led pro-Gaza (or Hamas depending on you ask) riots on campus. Some of the demands in question: banning face-concealing masks, enabling campus police to arrest political agitators, and empowering university administrators to further conduct student disciplinary action–as opposed to their faculty who arguably fueled the campus chaos or simply looked the other way.
UPenn had $175 million in federal funding frozen due to refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s policy regarding transgender athletes; “Lia” Thomas was not the hill to die on.
Lastly, fearing they’d be next in line for loss of federal funding, the University of California system announced they will stop requiring diversity statements for hiring purposes. Diversity statements require job applicants to describe their vision for “diversity and inclusion” on campuses–essentially oaths of loyalty to the marxists running the UC system. Deterrence works.
The Trump administration also has new plans for USAID, or what’s left of it at least after ~83% of their programs were slashed–most notably a change in name and function: national security oriented, strategic humanitarian aid. Their new purpose will be to strengthen America’s soft power abroad, combatting things like China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
On the culture war front, President Trump ordered the shuttering of the US Agency for Global Media. The agency oversaw American based international media outlets like the Voice of America–which broadcast “impartial” news and programming touting democracy in places like Russia and Iran (that’s definitely gone well), or English lessons in 48 nations, including China.
Liberal backlash over yet another blow to their propaganda infrastructure was predictably swift and loud. Worth noting multiple Republicans have expressed concerns the USAGM was not just a waste of taxpayer money, but a corrupt agency posing a serious threat to national security.
The icing on the cake came courtesy of the Kennedy Center, the 1.5M square foot performing arts center in Washington DC, and longtime cultural mouthpiece of the lefty elitist class inhabiting our nation’s capital. President Trump toured the center, and made clear to their board there’s a new sheriff in town. Audio of his visit was leaked to the New York Times, it’s both hilarious and highly telling of his vision for the American culture war. Maybe the Kennedy Center audience shouldn’t have aggressively booed JD Vance.
The White House sent a message to liberal institutions this week: the beatings will continue until morale improves.
