President Trump teased this year’s Kennedy Center honorees on Tuesday, announcing the recipients would be named on Wednesday while drawing attention to his ongoing power grab over art.
“GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS,” he posted on Truth Social. “They will be announced Wednesday.”
Conceived in 1958 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts came to life during the 1960s and was designated by Congress as a living memorial to the slain president before it opened in 1971.
The Kennedy Center Honors are among the nation’s highest awards in artistic achievement and count such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, Gladys Knight, Garth Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola, Dick Van Dyke and dozens of other household names among the recipients.
But none of that has stopped Trump from throwing some shade, despite the fact that he didn’t attend a single ceremony during his first term.
“Tremendous work is being done, and money being spent, on bringing it back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment,” Trump continued. “It had fallen on hard times, physically, BUT WILL SOON BE MAKING A MAJOR COMEBACK!!!”
Since taking office, Trump has shown as much respect to the historic institution as he has to the U.S. Constitution. Mere weeks after being sworn in, he ousted most Board of Trustee members on grounds that the center’s programming was too “woke” and installed people loyal to him, who promptly named him chairman in a unanimous vote.
Many artists have fled or canceled shows in response, including actress Issa Rae, musician Rhiannon Giddens and the Broadway show “Hamilton,” which scotched its entire run. The president and First Lady Melania Trump were mostly booed at the Kennedy Center’s opening night of “Les Miserables” in June.
Last month, House Republicans voted to rename the Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump. There is now a bill pending to replace Kennedy’s name with Trump’s on the entire complex. Such moves would violate the federal laws that created the Kennedy Center, as NBC News reported.
While some staffers told NPR they were blindsided by Trump’s abrupt announcement and worried about having enough time to sell tickets and sponsorships, the center’s leadership said they were on board.
“Thanks to his advocacy, our beautiful building will undergo renovations to restore its prestige and grandeur,” the center said on X, taking a page from Trump’s all-caps playbook to add, “We are also excited to be announcing this year’s INCREDIBLE slate of Kennedy Center Honorees.”
With News Wire Services
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