‘Hamilton’ musical sparks MAGA fury after canceling run over Trump

Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida news. He joined Newsweek in February 2018 after spending several years working at the International Business Times U.K., where he predominantly reported on crime, politics and current affairs. Prior to this, he worked as a freelance copywriter after graduating from the University of Sunderland in 2010. Languages: English. Email: e.palmer@newsweek.com.

A number of Republicans and Donald Trump supporters have attacked those behind the hit musical Hamilton after it was announced that the show would be canceling its run at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in response to the president being made its chairman.

Newsweek has contacted the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for comment via email outside of regular office hours.

The announcement is the latest setback for the Kennedy Center since Trump became its chairman. The institution has reportedly faced a decline in ticket sales following the leadership changes, with artists such as Issa Rae canceling shows and withdrawing their associations with the center in protest.

The show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, said in a Wednesday interview with The New York Times that he doesn’t want to be a part of the “Trump Kennedy Center.”

Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller added in a Wednesday statement that the show will no longer be returning to the national cultural center in Washington, D.C., following the recent “purge” of its staff.

Seller added that this is not an action against the current Trump administration, but against the “partisan policies” following the recent “takeover.”

Trump oversaw a major restructuring at the Kennedy Center in February, which included forcing out multiple board members and its chairman, David Rubenstein. The president then named himself as Rubenstein’s replacement.

The new board of trustees made up of Trump loyalists also fired its longtime president, Deborah Rutter, with Trump naming his longtime foreign policy adviser, Richard Grenell, as interim executive director.

Trump posted on Truth Social that he appointed Grenell because he “shares my vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture” and would ensure “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA” will be performed at the Kennedy Center.

Replying to Seller’s statement on X, formerly Twitter, Grenell accused the move to cancel Hamilton’s run at the Kennedy Center of being a “publicity stunt that will backfire.”

Other Trump supporters have also lashed out at the show on social media, with some suggesting it is “anti-American.”

Hamilton tells the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton and features a predominantly Black cast rapping the lines.

The show was scheduled to run at the Kennedy Center between March 3 and April 26, 2026, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump was officially named the chair of the Kennedy Center by its board on February 12.

During a November 2016 Broadway production of Hamilton, then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence heard some boos while attending the show.

Brandon Dixon, who played Vice President Aaron Burr, also read out a letter to Pence, stating that the cast was “alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.”

Richard Grenell posted on X: “Let’s be clear on the facts. Seller and Lin-Manuel Miranda first went to The New York Times before they came to the Kennedy Center with their announcement that they can’t be in the same room with Republicans. This is a publicity stunt that will backfire. The arts are for everyone — not just for the people who Lin likes and agrees with. The American people need to know that Lin-Manuel Miranda is intolerant of people who don’t agree with him politically. It’s clear he and Seller don’t want Republicans going to their shows. Americans see you, Lin.”

Terry Sater, a Navy veteran with “MAGA” in his X bio, posted: “I never liked this show anyway! The hypocrisy of clutching pearls when whites committed ‘cultural appropriation,’ and then celebrating Black and Hispanic Founding Fathers is the pinnacle of absurdity!”

The “Forever Trumper” X account posted: “Hamilton cancels Kennedy Center production after Trump becomes board chair. These people sicken me. They think they are hurting the president, but they are just exposing how anti-American they really are. Get over yourself.”

Trump supporter Jared Reall posted: “I don’t think these morons understand. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR TRASH.”

Harry Sisson, a Democratic content creator, wrote: “The cast of Hamilton has CANCELLED their shows at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC to protest Trump’s takeover of the center. They’re fighting back against Trump and his dictatorial tendencies. You love to see it!”

Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller in a statement: “The recent purge by the Trump administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents. Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center.”

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda told The New York Times: “This latest action by Trump means it’s not the Kennedy Center as we knew it. The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center. We’re just not going to be part of it.”

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has yet to announce what show will be replacing the now canceled Hamilton run.