President Trump said Wednesday that he’d been “unanimously” elected to lead the board of the Kennedy Center, completing his takeover of the Washington, D.C. cultural center.
The move, which the president announced on his social media site Truth Social, comes after Trump moved to oust members of the organization’s board who had been appointed by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”
On Monday, Trump announced that Richard Grenell, who serves as his envoy for special missions, would be the interim executive director of the Kennedy Center. Trump has criticized the organization for having programming that is overly woke. “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social while announcing Grenell’s appointment.
The Kennedy Center’s upcoming season includes revivals of popular musicals such as “Les Misérables,” “Legally Blonde,” and “The Sound of Music,” as well as a show celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Dungeons & Dragons” and a production of “Parade,” which depicts the trial and lynching of Jewish American Leo Frank in Georgia in 1915.
Trump’s changes have not been without criticism. Ben Folds, the singer-songwriter and Ben Folds Five frontman, said Wednesday on Instagram that he will step down as artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra because of the president’s actions. “Given the developments at the Kennedy Center, effective today I am resigning as artistic advisor to the NSO,” he wrote. “Not for me.”
The Kennedy Center’s newly constituted board will include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino; and Second Lady Usha Vance, according to CBS News. The board reportedly also asked Deborah Rutter, who has been president of the Kennedy Center for more than a decade, to step down.
