Paul Auster has revealed he is keen to lead American writers’ opposition to new president Donald Trump by taking on the leadership of the freedom of speech group PEN America, saying he had “been struggling ever since Trump won to work out how to live my life in the years ahead”.

In an interview with the Guardian, the veteran novelist and memoirist revealed he is interested in becoming the group’s president in 2018. The organisation, one of many around the world campaigning for the rights of writers, is currently led by author Andrew Solomon.

Auster, the Brooklyn-based writer of The New York Trilogy, said the position had “been offered to me again and again over the years” but the election of Trump had persuaded him to actively pursue the role.

The news came as it was reported that the new US administration plans to hack away arts and humanities funding by abolishing the national endowments for the arts (NEA) and humanities (NEH), both of which have annual budgets of just under $150m (£120m).

The NEA has funded the early careers of more than 60 major literary award winners, including Jonathan Franzen and Annie Proulx. The money saved would amount to less than 0.000075% of the annual federal budget of $3.9tn, according to the congressional budget office.

A former vice president and secretary of PEN America, Auster admitted that until now, he had not wanted to take on the full burden of the organisation’s leadership, but that he doubted he could live with himself if he didn’t pursue the role during Trump’s presidency.

Promising to speak often if he received the position, Auster, a significant voice in the US books world for the last 30 years, said he had been shocked at the result of the election in November. “I feel utterly astonished that we could have come to this. I find his election the most appalling thing I’ve seen in politics in my life,” he explained, in an interview to mark publication of his latest novel, 4321, a 900-page opus that he regards as the most significant book of his career.

Recent revelations about Russian hackers’ interference in the US election, Auster said, were “almost like a declaration of war, without bullets” and had galvanised him to take a stand.

Though the new novel covers the turbulent 1960s, including the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war, Auster said: “Tumultuous as those times were, they weren’t as depressing as what’s going on today.” He added: “It seems as though America has always been split between the people who believe in the individual above everything else, and those people who believe we’re responsible for one another.”

His comments followed reports that the incoming Trump administration plans to abolish the NEA and NEH. A report by the Hill claimed Trump staff have been meeting with civil servants to discuss drastic cuts to the two bodies, founded in 1965 to fund cultural programmes across the US.

An angry reaction greeted the news, with opponents claiming the cuts would strike at the heart of US cultural life. In a statement, PEN America executive director Suzanne Nossel said: “This proposal sends shivers down the spine of all Americans who value research, scholarship, and creativity and who recognise the mortal blow that eliminating these vital agencies would strike at the heart of treasured sectors of our society.”

Last year, according to Publishers Weekly, the NEH committed $4m in grants to book-related projects, including libraries, museums and authors, while the NEA awarded $25,000 fellowships to 37 writers. Previous fellowships have been awarded to Jennifer Egan, Jeffrey Eugenides and Alice Walker.

Edkins warned the new president’s reported plans stoked fears that his administration would usher in “a new dark ages in America”. She added the proposed cuts were “an outrageous abdication of the US government’s proud history of support for groundbreaking research and creative endeavours that have served as engines of innovation and bolstered America’s stature as a haven for free thinkers and a global leader in humanity’s shared quest for knowledge”.

Authors were quick to respond to the news on Twitter. Author James Tate Hill tweeted: “The annual $150 million it will cost for Melania not to live in DC exceeds the annual budget of the ‪#NEA-SAD!”

The annual $150 million it will cost for Malania not to live in DC exceeds the annual budget of the #NEA-SAD! — James Tate Hill (@JamesTateHill) January 20, 2017