The Blog on the Left

  If you thought the culture wars were limited to Twitter fights, school boards, or viral memes, think again. Donald Trump has now set his sights on one of America’s most prestigious cultural institutions—the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts —and the fallout has been a chaotic, alarming lesson in what happens when politics and art collide. A National Monument Recast as a Political Trophy The Kennedy Center was founded in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, a living tribute to the belief that arts and culture are public goods , accessible to everyone, and protected from partisan interference. Its stages have hosted the world’s greatest performers, from classical orchestras to contemporary dance, without favoring political ideology . But in 2025, Trump’s administration took the unprecedented step of restructuring the Kennedy Center’s leadership , installing loyalists—including the controversial Richard Grenell—as president, and even pushing to add his own name ...

If there’s one thing Donald Trump has made abundantly clear over the years, it’s that he doesn’t see political office as a service; he sees it as a marketing opportunity. This is nowhere more on display than in his obsession with making Air Force One—the symbol of American presidential power—look like an oversized version of his private jet fleet. From the moment he first set foot in the Oval Office, Trump’s branding instincts kicked into overdrive. For him, the presidency is just another asset to leverage, a stage for personal glorification. Air Force One isn’t just a plane; in his eyes, it’s an airborne billboard for “Trump, Inc.” The gleaming stripes, the gold lettering, the “Trump-esque” flair—it’s as if the aircraft is a flying extension of Mar-a-Lago. The message is clear: he doesn’t just occupy the office; he owns it, and everything associated with it must carry the stamp of his ego. There’s a deeper, almost grotesque, symbolism here. Air Force One is meant to represent the Unit...

When people talk about Donald Trump and tariffs, they often talk past each other. Supporters frame tariffs as bold economic nationalism. Critics sometimes dismiss them as pure stupidity. Neither explanation really gets at what was actually happening. Tariffs under Trump were not primarily an economic strategy. They were political theater. Loud, confrontational, easy to explain in a tweet, and perfectly suited to a worldview that mistakes domination for governance. That matters, because tariffs themselves are not inherently right-wing. The left has a long and complicated relationship with trade barriers. The problem was not that Trump used tariffs. The problem was how, why, and who ultimately paid for them. Let’s unpack that without pretending this was some 4D chess masterclass or, on the other hand, a random tantrum with spreadsheets attached. What tariffs actually are, minus the mythology A tariff is a tax on imported goods. That’s it. It is not a fine imposed on a foreign government....