During his first tour of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since taking over as the institution’s chairman, President Trump said he never liked “Hamilton” but that he expected other “Broadway hits,” including “Les Misérables,” to do “well” for the center.
“The thing that does well are Broadway hits,” Trump said during a press conference before meeting with the board, which now consists of more than 30 of his allies, including chief of staff Susie Wiles. Monday marks the first time Trump has convened the board since his February takeover of the center after ousting all board members appointed by former President Biden and firing the center’s longtime president, Deborah F. Rutter.
Trump’s knock against Broadway superstar Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” comes after the mega-hit canceled next year’s run of shows at the center. Miranda told The Times in a statement, “The Kennedy Center has long been an artistic center historically devoid of a political point of view, with programming agnostic to the policy shifts of the times. At its heart, ‘Hamilton’ celebrates American diversity. The recent shift in the Kennedy Center’s ideology and board leadership has made it untenable for a production like ‘Hamilton’ to celebrate and be celebrated there today.”
Trump also lamented the physical state of the center, which broke ground in 1964 and opened to the public in 1971. The center, Trump said, was in “tremendous disrepair, as is a lot of the rest of our country — most of it because of bad management.” Trump said he was “disappointed,” but he and the board will “do what has to be done” when it comes to restoring the center. Trump did not elaborate on what exactly needed maintenance but said there were “rooms underground with no windows” that would never be used and were “such a waste of money.”
Many performing arts centers contain labyrinthine windowless rooms underground for dressing, makeup and costumes, although it remains unclear if these were the rooms Trump was referring to.
The unions also were in Trump’s crosshairs Monday as he criticized “the union structure,” saying, “They wanted $30,000 just to move a piano” so board member and “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood could perform for the board.
“It’s really emblematic of our country,” Trump said, shaking his head.
The Kennedy Center “represents a very important part of D.C. and actually our country, and I think it’s important to make sure that our country is represented well,” Trump said, adding that people often express disappointment after attending shows. “We’re cleaning up Washington, D.C., and this is a big part of Washington, D.C.”
During his board meeting, Trump was expected to propose changes to the honors advisory committee, according to the New York Times. Trump’s interest in the center’s annual honors dates back to his first term in office when several honorees, including Norman Lear, said they would boycott the event if Trump were to attend. He did not, marking only the fourth time in the organization’s history that a president was not at the ceremony.
In audio of the board meeting obtained by the Washington Post, Trump seemed to suggest that he should host the honors going forward and that members would be added to the committee that chooses the honorees. Entertainers including Paul Anka, Sylvester Stallone, Johnny Mathis and Andrea Bocelli were also suggested for the award, and Trump mused about giving posthumous awards to Elvis Presley, Luciano Pavarotti and Babe Ruth. Posthumous awards have never before been given by the center.
“Elvis sells better as a dead man,” Trump said, according to the Washington Post.
Upcoming programming at the center under Trump’s leadership and that of interim executive director Ric Grenell reportedly was on the agenda as well, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Since Trump’s takeover, Kennedy Center watchers have been on pins and needles about what the schedule might look like. Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon suggested that the J6 Prison Choir — composed of men jailed after the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — should perform there.
During a visit to the Kennedy Center last week, Vice President JD Vance was loudly booed when he showed up with his wife, Usha Vance, for a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra.
In response to the reception, Grenell wrote on X, “It troubles me to see that so many in the audience appear to be white and intolerant of diverse political views. Diversity is our strength. We must do better. We must welcome EVERYONE. We will not allow the Kennedy Center to be an intolerant place.”
