“I’m hoping that it is a delay as opposed to a policy decision because I think it’s a good thing for these awards to happen,” said Robert Lynch, the president and chief executive officer of Americans for the Arts, an advocacy organization.

Image The National Medal of Arts Credit... National Endowment for the Arts

The White House responded to questions about the medals by saying that planning is underway to distribute them as in years past. “We are currently evaluating candidates and will likely issue later this year,” said Lindsay E. Walters, a White House spokeswoman.

It does seem the delay may be simply a matter of an administrative backlog. The National Medal of Science, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation have also not been awarded since 2016.

But the holdup around the arts medals is notable because of President Trump’s rocky relationship with the National Endowment for Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His first proposed federal budget would have eliminated these agencies, which, in addition to promoting cultural programs, recommend candidates for the national medals to the president.

Last year, Mr. Trump eliminated the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities after 16 members resigned in protest, citing his reaction to the white nationalist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va. The President and first lady, Melania Trump, subsequently chose not to participate in the annual Kennedy Center Honors, a program that celebrates lifetime contributions to art, music, dance, film, television and culture. The White House said the decision was designed “to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction.” But several winners, critical of Mr. Trump, had already announced plans to skip the White House reception traditionally held in conjunction with the presentation. The reception was ultimately canceled.