President Trump’s cultural influence shows signs of slipping, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday. The president was greeted with boos from New York Knicks fans when he appeared on the jumbotron saluting from a private box during the national anthem at Game 3 of the NBA Finals on June 9. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith complained publicly about the tightened security and lengthy lines Trump’s presence created around Madison Square Garden, saying, “If it causes the New York Knicks to lose tonight, I’m blaming him.”
The incident comes as the celebratory atmosphere that surrounded Trump’s second inauguration has dissipated, the Journal reported. Country music star Carrie Underwood sang at the ceremony, and rapper Snoop Dogg performed at a ball days before it. Podcasters and influencers cheered him, and professional athletes celebrated big plays with “the Trump shuffle.”
Now, Trump’s grip on entertainment is showing fractures. Several artists pulled out of a semiquincentennial concert series organized by the Trump-aligned group Freedom 250, citing concerns about its political ties. Brent Carter, co-lead singer of the Commodores, told the Journal that the band originally signed on and then backed out after seeing backlash online. “I can’t imagine going out there singing ‘Easy like Sunday morning’ basically at a MAGA rally when I look at what’s going on,” he said.
Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts also hit a wall. A federal judge last month ordered Trump’s name stripped from the venue and halted his plan to close it for renovation, according to the Journal. The president subsequently said he would turn the center over to Congress, and a spokesperson told the Journal the center is “evaluating all legal options.”
The report describes fractures in Trump’s coalition, particularly over foreign policy. Debono, who trademarked “Make America Hot Again” and runs mixers for young conservatives, said she wanted more deportations and safety on the subway from Trump 2.0 but instead got a new war in the Middle East. “I’m just like, what the hell, why are we at war?” she told the Journal. A group chat among conservative women lit up with questions about whether they still identify as “America First” or “MAGA.”
Trump still has high-wattage events on his summer calendar, including an Ultimate Fighting Championship match on the South Lawn for his 80th birthday on June 11 and a Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar race in downtown Washington. After artists backed out of the Great American State Fair, Trump stepped forward to headline the kickoff, describing himself on Truth Social as “the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime.”
The White House dismissed suggestions that Trump has lost cultural potency. Spokesman Davis Ingle told the Journal that the Democratic brand “remains in the toilet because they are weak, woke, and consistently put the American people last.”
Observers say the challenge for Trump is that the countercultural appeal of MAGA is harder to harness from inside the White House. “The culture is antiestablishment and he’s acting like he’s part of the establishment,” said Rachel Janfaza, founder of the nonpartisan research firm The Up and Up.