Trump fires Kennedy Center board and names himself chairman
Donald Trump has announced plans to fire trustees from the Kennedy Center including its chairman and put himself in charge.
The cultural center has become the latest institution to find itself in the president's crosshairs.
Trump stated that he would be taking over programming at the center specifically to put an end to events featuring performers in drag.
'At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
'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!'
The president would be replacing the current chairman, philanthropist David Rubenstein.
Donald Trump has announced plans to fire trustees from the Kennedy Center including its chairman and put himself in charge.
The president would be replacing the current chairman, philanthropist David Rubenstein
In a statement late Friday on its website, the Kennedy Center said it was aware of Trump's post. 'We have received no official communications from the White House regarding changes to our board of trustees,' the statement said.
'We are aware that some members of our board have received termination notices from the administration.'
The Center confirmed that the Chair of trustees has been appointed by its board members per governance established in 1958.
It noted that there is nothing forbidding Trump from replacing board members but it would mark the first time, 'such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center's board.'
Unlike former Joe Biden and other former presidents, Trump did not attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremonies during his first term, held at the performing arts venue in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood.
Shortly after Trump's post, the Kennedy Center website began experiencing technical difficulties.
Visitors got a message reading 'We are experiencing high traffic' and were redirected to a 'waiting room' that listed how many hundreds of people were trying to access the site ahead of them.
Trump suggested in his post that he would be implementing some changes to the center's performance schedule, noting that last year 'the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.'
According to its website, the center in July hosted a preshow titled 'A Drag Salute to Divas' and a November 'Drag Brunch.'
Trump followed up his announcement by posting an AI generated image of him as head of the Kennedy Center
In his post, Trump did not clarify which board of trustee members he would be terminating besides Rubenstein.
He followed up his announcement by posting an AI generated image of him as head of the Kennedy Center.
The board often features political powerbrokers and major donors, and is currently made up of members from both sides of the aisle.
Rubenstein was first elected to the post in 2010 and reelected each year since that time.
Rubenstein, the principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles, was originally appointed to the Kennedy Center board by President George W. Bush and subsequently reappointed by President Barack Obama and Biden.
The current board features Biden's White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, as well as Mike Donilon, Biden's longtime ally, and Stephanie Cutter, a former Obama adviser.
The treasurer of the center's board of trustees is television producer Shonda Rhimes, who hosted fundraisers for Biden before he abandoned his reelection bid last summer.
The Kennedy Center is a performing arts venue which hosts around 2,000 performances every year
But the current board also features Trump allies, including Pam Bondi, the new president's recently confirmed attorney general, and Lee Greenwood, whose song 'God Bless the USA,' was the unofficial anthem of Trump's presidential campaign.
During his first term in 2019, Trump announced that he was tapping actor Jon Voight, a longtime supporter, to the board, along with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who he has picked as US ambassador to Israel this time.
The Kennedy Center is a performing arts venue which hosts around 2,000 performances every year.
It was established as a national cultural center by President Eisenhower in 1958 before being renamed in honor of President Kennedy following his assassination.
