From people to food to flags, why does the Trump administration hate colors so much?

A couple of weeks ago, I was staying at a hotel that had a free breakfast buffet. That can be pretty dangerous, although I'm usually careful about what I eat. However, when I arrived in the dining room, the first thing that grabbed my attention was a big silo filled with Froot Loops, otherwise known as the scourge of Libs of TikTok.

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The Froot Loop colors were almost hypnotic, a kaleidoscope swirl of sugar and dye that took me back to my childhood. I caved. The Froot Loops won. And, if I’m being really honest, they weren’t even that good, but it didn’t matter. They were fun. They were colorful. I had a sugar rush of being a kid again.

And in a world increasingly draped in gray and fear, those fruity colors felt like a rebellion.

Then came the Fourth of July. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. There’s not a more colorful summer holiday than July 4; however, there was one noticeably stale, whites-only moment that darkened the day.

I was watching MSNBC on my phone while I was out trying to enjoy the day. Because I’m addicted to news, and because, well, paying attention to the news is part of my job, I was following coverage of Donald Trump’s wrongly named “big beautiful bill” signing at the White House.

As he predictably basked in undeserved applause, Trump invited members of Congress who were present onto the stage. And, in an instant, there was a sea of white faces, all with their tongues hanging out, ready to lick his derriere.

Not a single Black or brown lawmaker stood beside him. If a picture speaks a thousand words, that image screamed one thing, and that was that this bill will not benefit anyone except white people. This was not just visual erasure. It was policy that was representative of Trump’s lifelong exclusion of all those who are not white..

But it didn’t end there.

On Monday, The New York Times reported that Mars, the candy giant responsible for M&Ms, Starburst, and Skittles, is in a pitched battle with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is aggressively pressuring food manufacturers to remove synthetic food dyes.

Yes, while new COVID variants surge, while there are record-breaking measles outbreaks, and while the nation is still struggling to pay for expensive health care, Kennedy has made it his mission to drain the color from our candy. His war on dyes is rooted in fear, not fact. The scientific community has not reached consensus on the risks of synthetic food colorings. So like he does with vaccines, Kennedy is taking it upon himself to be the final arbiter of what is healthy and what isn’t.

The battle against colors in the Trump administration knows no bounds. Last week I wrote about another rainbow casualty. Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy sent letters to state governors warning them about the alleged dangers of rainbow-painted sidewalks. Yes, amid a freakish amount of airline mishaps, ships crashing into bridges, and crumbling roads, Duffy, like Kennedy, has his eyes on the dangers of colors.

Whether it’s people, food, or flags, this administration seems obsessed with eliminating color, not just literally but symbolically.

Since the day Trump was sworn in (again), he’s made it his mission to whitewash America, removing color from its history. literally and metaphorically. He and his henchmen have tried to erase Black history from schools, libraries, and museums. Trump has said he only wants the good stories told to children about American history, meaning he only wants stories about white people succeeding.

They’ve tried to paint all the colors of Pride out of existence, banning Pride flags from federal buildings, gutting Title IX protections, and refusing to acknowledge Pride Month itself. Trump and his homophobes and transphobes are green-lighting Project 2025 policies that target LGBTQ+ people under the guise of “parental rights” and “morality.”

It’s become abundantly clear that the Trump administration does not just fear difference. It fears vibrancy. It loathes color because color represents expression, identity, diversity, creativity, joy, and yes, even rebellion. Color is a refusal to conform. It’s a declaration of presence and existence. And in Trump’s black-and-white worldview, that’s dangerous.

He wants an America stripped down to a dim grayscale, like a world of Ansel Adams photographs, drained of the life and spontaneity of a Keith Haring color-soaked mural. Will Trump go after museums next? Will he ban the Impressionists next? Is Monet’s garden too suggestive? Is Van Gogh’s palette too provocative? Will South Beach’s iconic art deco buildings get repainted in slate gray under the next executive order?

This might sound absurd. But then again, so did banning rainbow crosswalks. I mean, that’s just absolutely ridiculous.

What’s more absurd is what gets prioritized. While scientists warn of new COVID variants spreading in crowded summer travel hubs, and public health experts sound the alarm on the worst measles outbreak in years, the administration is devoting its energy to candy dye bans and sidewalk aesthetics. They’re too busy policing color to protect public health.

And so I worry, not just as a gay man or someone who cherishes art or someone who enjoys a sugar hit of Froot Loops every now and then. I worry as an American who sees where this is going. When a government targets color, it’s not long before it targets the people who embody it.

So what happens when fall comes? Will Trump declare the Hudson Valley closed to tourists, lest they be infected by the riot of changing leaves? Will he send the National Guard to Vermont to spray-paint maple trees black?

And the next time I find myself at a hotel breakfast buffet, will the Froot Loops be replaced with some gray gruel? If so, I might just pass them by. Colorless cereal isn’t breakfast. It’s a flashing whites-only warning.

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