President Donald Trump is MAGA-fying the Kennedy Center, saying on his Truth Social that he intends to immediately fire the board of directors for the Kennedy Center and put someone friendly to the presidency in charge: himself.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” he wrote. “I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture. We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”
Trump in his Truth Social post took issue with “Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth.” Last year, the Kennedy Center hosted events such as “Broadway Drag Brunch” and “Dancing Queens Drag Brunch” at the Center’s rooftop restaurant, as well as “A Drag Salute to Divas,” “Bertha: Grateful Drag,” and “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” throughout the year, the latter specifically in the Family Theater.
It’s the latest in a line of attacks on the LGBTQ and specifically transgender community, with the Trump administration removing the “T” from its LGBT documentation and with Trump this week signing an executive order banning trans women from competing in women’s sports.
The Kennedy Center’s current chairman is David Rubenstein, who was meant to hold the position through 2026 as part of a six-year term, so it’s unclear if Trump has the authority to fire him so swiftly.
Back in his first term, Trump declined to attend the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in 2017 after some honorees were critical of him. The honorees included Carmen de Lavallade, Gloria Estefan, LL Cool J, Norman Lear, and Lionel Richie.
Trump has taken some other steps into the arts and entertainment world, including appointing Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight as special ambassadors to Hollywood, which he says was “troubled.”
At this writing, the website to the Kennedy Center Honors states that it is experiencing enormous traffic and featured a queue similar to waiting in a queue to buy concert tickets.
The Kennedy Center Honors most recently recognized Francis Ford Coppola among its 2024 class.
