Donald Trump is not only upending American governance; he also intends to wield cultural influence. So he is taking on an unusual presidential side gig, as chairman of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Trump undertook a “massive overhaul” of the Kennedy Center in the weeks after his inauguration, said USA Today. He fired board members who had been appointed by the Biden Administration, as well as longtime chairman David Rubenstein, then assumed the chairmanship himself. He cited drag performances at the Kennedy Center as a reason for the takeover.
“THIS WILL STOP,” Trump wrote on Truth social. But the takeover has roiled the arts community.
What is the Kennedy Center’s mission?
Outside of Washington D.C., the institution is probably best known as the home of the annual Kennedy Center Honors, a ceremony that functions as a sort of lifetime achievement award for artists who have made significant contributions to American culture. The mission is to “present classical and contemporary music, opera, drama, dance and other performing arts,” the Center says on its website. The center is also home to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera.
Who pays for the Kennedy Center’s programming?
The Kennedy Center is a “public-private effort,” said The Conversation. Most of the budget comes from private funds, “from ticket sales, individual donors, foundations and corporations.” About a quarter of the budget — $45 million in 2023 — comes from the federal government. That mix means that the center has the structure of a nonprofit but “with political appointees.” As many as three dozen board members are appointed by the president, though usually on a bipartisan basis. Trump’s unexpected takeover put that tradition aside.
Why is Trump getting involved?
Trump said he does not want the Kennedy Center’s performances “to lean into ‘woke culture,'” said CBS News. Music, singing and dance will continue at the center, but the president wants to push a lineup that appeals to a “broader, more inclusive and more balanced audience, instead of those that only appeal to half the country.”
But this is probably more than a difference of vision over programming: Trump skipped the Kennedy Center Honors during his first term after artists threatened to boycott the proceedings. The takeover allows him to “taunt the industry that shunned him,” said Vox. The theater world “powerfully criticized” Trump during his first term. “Now he’s striking back.
What does the takeover mean?
For now, it means that a lot of artists are “cutting ties with the institution and canceling their upcoming performances” at the Kennedy Center, said MSNBC. Issa Rae canceled a show planned for March, Shonda Rhimes resigned as the board’s treasurer and musicians Ben Folds and Renée Fleming announced they were resigning as artistic advisers. Trump’s takeover represents an “infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds,” Rae said.
What next?
The takeover will “reverberate in Hollywood and beyond,” said Time. The Kennedy Center Honors will probably only include “artists comfortable standing alongside Trump.” That shift narrows the list of possible honorees. It is difficult to “imagine recent winners like Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney” choosing to accept accolades from a Trump-run Kennedy Center.