Trump will attend today’s Kennedy Center board meeting as its new chair
President Trump is expected to tour the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today, where he will also preside over a board meeting as the Center’s new chair.
Last month, Trump led an overhaul of the Kennedy Center’s leadership by dismissing the previously-appointed Board of Trustees, along with longtime Kennedy Center chair David Rubenstein. Deborah Rutter, who served as president of the cultural center for over a decade, was also ousted.
President Trump named an all-new board that, in an unprecedented move, elected him as the new Kennedy Center Board Chair.
The Kennedy Center has not shared a copy of today’s meeting agenda with NPR, but The New York Times reports that Trump is aiming to exert more influence over the selection of the Kennedy Center Honorees and the board plans to discuss changes to the committee that makes nominations.
Since 1978, The Kennedy Center Honors have recognized the lifetime artistic achievements of people and institutions like Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton and the Apollo Theater. During his first term, Trump declined to attend the annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.
In 2017, he attended a Fourth of July concert at the Kennedy Center hosted by First Baptist Church Dallas. During the event, the church’s choir and orchestra performed a new song that included Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan in its lyrics. During the concert, President Trump spoke in support of “religious liberty” and against “fake media.”
But in recent months, Trump has criticized the Kennedy Center’s programming for being “woke” and has vowed to change that moving forward. “We have to straighten it out,” he told reporters on Air Force One Sunday after spending the weekend in Florida.
Several artists slated to perform at the Kennedy Center have canceled their shows in protest of new leadership, including comedian Issa Rae, folk musician Rhiannon Giddens and the hit musical Hamilton.
News of today’s board meeting comes on the heels of Vice President JD Vance’s appearance at the Kennedy Center last week, where he and second lady Usha Vance were booed by the crowd as they attended a National Symphony Orchestra concert. The second lady is one of the newly-appointed members of the Board of Trustees.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.
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