Recently, Trump has been likening himself to a king rather than a democratically-elected leader. Apparently, if Trump were a king, he’d be King Louis XVI.
On Saturday, February 22nd, the U.S. Army Choir performed at the White House for the 2025 Governor’s Ball. They performed “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the Broadway musical Les Miserables.
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While Trump wasn’t detained by his own guards and placed under house arrest during the performance, the performance did leave many turning their heads.
For those who don’t know, the song in question is one of the most iconic from Les Miserables, which takes place in 19th-century France during one of the country’s revolutionary periods. “Do you hear the people sing” depicts a fictionalized version of the June Rebellion, in qhixh a group of students and idealists led an anti-monarchist insurrection following the death of army commander Jean Maximilien Lamarque.
For that reason, “Do you hear the people sing” has also been widely used as a protest song in demonstrations against what many view as tyranny. Considering the amount of civil unrest and protests that have been occurring in the United States against Trump’s actions against transgender people and immigrants and eroding relations with Canada, some saw this performance as a form of protest from the U.S. Military.
This could be the case, as Trump has been making plenty of choices that affect multiple groups, including veterans. He’s fired over 1,000 Veteran Affairs workers and proposed cuts to disability benefits. It could be that this was the military’s way of saying that veterans are not disposable heroes and will not be treated as such.
It is also possible that Trump picked the song, as he played it over loudspeakers at a Miami rally in 2016. According to multiple sources, including himself, Trump is also confirmed to be a theater buff and a fan of Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Sunset Boulevard.
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I don’t know if it makes it even more frustrating that he is not self-aware enough to realize how this song could be about him or if he knows it’s about him and chose it specifically to mock those calling him a tyrant. Though Trump doesn’t seem too upset by it, in his usual fashion, he would have taken to Twitter (not calling it that other thing) to call them out on what he views as a disgraceful act, but he didn’t.
It’s never clear who picks the songs for the Army Choir, so the meaning of this whole situation is anyone’s guess.
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