President Donald Trump wants to introduce non-woke musicals like “Cats,” honor dead stars from sports to business and even renovate the Kennedy Center, according to a leaked board meeting recording.
The center in Washington, D.C. has become the frontline of Trump’s effort to erode what he sees as “woke” culture built by the Democratic Party, and Trump intends to alter it by rolling out sweeping changes, according to audio of a private meeting obtained by the New York Times.
The president started this process by parachuting himself in as the center’s chairman in February. He has since gutted the board and installed loyalists to help him in his quest.
At his first board meeting Monday as chairman, Trump laid out his plans for the future of the cultural hub. He says that he would like the center to go “slightly more conservative” in terms of the stars that it honors, according to the recordings.
The Kennedy Center Honors, an annual awards ceremony at the site, will be re-designed in his image to push back against the influence on the event from “radical left lunatics.”
Traditionally, only those in the performing arts sphere are recognized with gongs, but Trump thinks figures in sports, politics and business could also be honored.
He even reportedly name-checked casino mogul Steve Wynn as a potential recipient. He is a major Republican donor and husband of Trump-appointed board member Andrea Hissom Wynn.
Luciano Pavarotti, Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth are some names Trump also threw around. Agreeable board members also mentioned Celine Dion, Sylvester Stallone, Johnny Mathis and Andrea Bocelli.
But who to present this new-look honors bash? Well, the self-described “king of ratings,” of course.
“Believe me, I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it,” Trump demurred in the recording, even though he was the one who put himself forward as host. “I have enough publicity. They’ll say, ‘Trump wants to be the host.’ I don’t want to. But I want this thing to be successful.”
He said the previous hosts were “always terrible.” Queen Latifah hosted last year.
He then described himself as “the king of ratings,” adding: “Whether we like it or not, the king of ratings.” Indeed, he looked like a king as he addressed the press from above as he stood in the presidential box earlier on Monday.
One might also expect Broadway shows of a certain vintage to become the new norm. Trump mused about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera.”
After a board member asked if there were any new productions that were not “totally woke,” a Trump center lackey said there would be a partial split from the union representing actors, Actors’ Equity.
This “opens us up for a whole bunch of more options as well as a lot more money” the unidentified board member added.
Structurally, the Kennedy Center is in “tremendous disrepair,” Trump said later on. He announced that “the whole place needs work,” including the main hall, and that he will ask Congress to pay to help “bring it back.”
“They never covered the I-beam,” he said of the exposed structural girder that was left uncovered as a stylistic point. He added: “I think the I-beams should be covered with some incredible stone — probably marble, but marble’s a bad outdoor stone, but looks better than granite. But it should be covered. And we’ll do that. We’ll add that in. But it’s not a small job.”
He also suggested that the center should build a band shell on the Potomac River.
Trump then blasted the center’s 2019 expansion that added a series of spaces for rehearsals and performances. He dismissed the gardens, classrooms and cafe that were built as part of the privately-funded work as “nonsense” and “crazy rooms.”
“Think of it, they got $250 million,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out where they spent it. Somebody made a lot of money, that I can tell you.”
And, true to form, he managed to squeeze in a jibe at political rival and former president, Joe Biden. “I had no idea how big it was, because I just walked the whole place,” he said after a full tour of the site. “Believe me, Biden couldn’t have done it. He would not have been able to walk the place.”
