Trump Is Set to Tighten His Grip on the Kennedy Center With New Move

President Donald Trump is reportedly seeking to tighten his grip on the Kennedy Center.

An annual tradition since 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors gala recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements in their field. Some of last year’s honorees included acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola and rock band the Grateful Dead. The honorees are selected by the center’s honors advisory committee, which the president reportedly has his eyes on next as part of his sweeping takeover of the center since he became its chairman.

Citing two sources briefed on the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity, The New York Times reports that Trump is hoping to gain control over who gets to be part of the selection committee. The Times also adds that the president is slated to speak at a Kennedy Center board meeting Monday afternoon, where a resolution detailing his proposed changes to its advisory committee will be discussed.

A White House press schedule confirmed the president is set to participate in a Kennedy Center board meeting and tour at 3 p.m.

The resolution, obtained by the Times, reportedly states that members of the committee “shall be appointed by the chairman of the board, and shall serve at the pleasure of the chairman.” The committee will then pass on its recommendations for honorees to the Kennedy Center’s president for approval, the Times added.

The White House and Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.

The proposed change will ultimately hand over power to Trump who gets to pick and choose who will be on the committee that discerns which artists are honored. Last year, the committee was chaired by philanthropist David C. Bohnett and included members like Gloria Estefan, Sally Field, Lionel Richie, and Renée Fleming, among others.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday night, Trump said he needed to “straighten it out,” adding “it’s not a good situat—just like everything else in this country.”

Trump talked down concerns after Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were booed by audience members at a National Symphony Orchestra show at the Kennedy Center last week.

“He’s doing a great job,” Trump said of Vance.

Although it’s unclear who the president has in mind for the committee, his recent efforts to place longtime loyalists in top roles at the Kennedy Center could be an indicator to how it will shape up.

Last month, the president ousted the center’s longtime chairman, David M. Rubenstein, and fired its president, Deborah F. Rutter, who had assumed the role for more than a decade. While Trump filled the chairman’s shoes, Richard Grenell—the president’s envoy for special missions—was elected as its president.

In a statement to the Times on Trump’s proposed changes, Grenell shared that “the financial situation at the Kennedy Center is a serious problem that has been hidden from the public for too long, and so Donald Trump is committed to putting the Kennedy Center on a solid financial foundation by having programming that appeals to everyone, not just a few.”