It’s a Beast of a time in Washington. Donald Trump’s D.C. reality show is full of new characters, plot twists, and cliffhangers, and the Daily Beast will navigate you through it. The 47th president won’t need to drain The Swamp. It’s all leaking here… Receive this in your inbox a day early by signing up here.
Deep Society, the Kennedy Center…and the Wrath of Melania
Revenge, as the saying goes, is a dish best served cold and in Washington time is always a moveable feast. The politicians may come and go but the insiders endure with the monuments. In the case of David Rubenstein he was even awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden for restoring the Washington Monument among others.
So, Donald Trump shouldn’t expect any sudden retribution for his coup at the Kennedy Center. When he seized control of the performing arts venue, unseating Rubenstein as chairman, it quickly became clear among the Democrat board members (and some Republicans) there was little they could do to prevent it. And so they will do what the true establishment does; they will bide their time. A weathervane never points away from the wind; it points back to where it’s from.
We’re told the inner dominion of D.C’s permanent elite believe Trump’s sudden, random interest in the center—he has never attended a single show—had little to do with drag shows or content, as he suggested in a Truth Social post, and more to do with his own, more obvious, payback. The insiders didn’t accept him last time around and they won’t this, and it prickles under his skin like a rash that won’t go away. His only redress is to try and take away their toys.
“He has kicked over a beehive,” said one person in the know, “but he won’t know it until it stings him in the a**.” They will forgive the intrusion for now…but they won’t forget. Even if the Kennedy Center morphs into the Trump Center overnight. “This isn’t Deep State,” added the insider. “This is Deep Society.” It hasn’t helped the mood that Trump has handed over day-to-day control to Interim Executive Director Ric Grenell, an ‘America First’ loyalist with no background in the arts who was ruffling feathers within days of arriving in Germany as U.S. Ambassador during his boss’s first term. If Trump wants the Marine Corps Band, then Grenell will deliver.
In the meantime, Rubenstein and about half the board of trustees have been removed to the “Emeritus” section of the Center’s website.
However, if Trump thinks his coup was bloodless, at least for now, then he’d better look closer to home. Melania Trump had apparently told friends she wanted to become more involved in the Kennedy Center and was already on the board as an honorary trustee along with other former first ladies Jill Biden, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. Now her husband has stolen her thunder once again. She’d probably get a warmer welcome at the Woman’s National Democratic Club.
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