The performing arts field tends to move slowly; Donald Trump does not. Last Friday, he announced that he would be taking over the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; by Monday, he had dismissed a number of board members and installed a new interim executive director, Richard Grenell; and on Wednesday, he was officially confirmed as chairman of the board. What does this mean for the arts? Who the hell knows? For professional observers, it’s as if, having spent years learning to read the tea leaves, we find that they’ve started serving coffee.

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… is a writer and critic on music and opera, the visual arts, and more. A former contributor to the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, she was the chief classical music critic of the Washington...