Inside Trump’s Artless Takeover of the Kennedy Center
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.2 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The New Yorker staff writer Katy Waldman joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss how the Kennedy Center, the premier performing-arts hub in Washington, D.C., has been transformed under President Trump’s second term—and under his chaotic and unprecedented chairmanship of the organization. They talk about this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, which featured a group of honorees that reflect the President’s personal tastes, as well as the past year of mass firings, boycotts, and programming changes that have followed the Trump-led upheaval inside the institution. They also examine Trump’s relationship to arts and culture, and how the planned White House ballroom reflects the kind of cultural legacy he hopes to leave behind.
This week’s reading:
- “How the Kennedy Center Has Been Transformed by Trumpism,” by Katy Waldman
- “The Trump Administration’s Chaos in the Caribbean,” by Jonathan Blitzer
- “How to Leave the U.S.A.,” by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian
- “The Weird Spectacle of the World Cup Draw,” by Louisa Thomas
- “Is the Supreme Court Unsure About Birthright Citizenship?,” by Amy Davidson Sorkin
The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, Katie. |
| 0:07.3 | Hey, Tyler. |
| 0:08.3 | Thanks so much for being here. |
| 0:09.7 | Thank you for having me. |
| 0:11.3 | Of the five people recognized at this past weekend's Kennedy Center honors, who do you |
| 0:15.5 | think best encapsulates the Trump aesthetic? |
| 0:19.5 | Hmm. |
| 0:20.7 | That is such a good question. And I think each one of them has their own special claim to a part of his psyche. |
| 0:27.9 | However, I would go with Michael Crawford, who defined the role of the Phantom of the Opera, |
| 0:34.2 | just because something about the, like, openly sentimental, campy vibe that he brings to his |
| 0:40.7 | performances, I think, like, that is aspirational for Trump in a way. |
| 0:45.1 | I'm glad you mentioned Phantom of the Opera. I was able to, I had, like, gone to it for the |
| 0:48.4 | first time with my husband a few years ago. It was, I think it was a birthday present to me, |
| 0:52.9 | because I, like, have always enjoyed Phantom of the Opera and had never seen it on Broadway. And, like, every time, like, the Phantom came on stage, people would, like, shout and kind of, like, jeer. And it was, like, the most vocal audience I've ever been a part of. That's wild. I have to confess, I've never actually seen the Phantom of the Opera, and I was shocked when the tribute started and just like |
| 1:13.5 | the rock drums came in. wild. I have to confess, I've never actually seen the Phantom of the Opera, and I was shocked |
| 1:11.5 | when the tribute started and just like the rock drums came in. It's amazing. Was there a chandelier? |
| 1:17.5 | There wasn't, well, the Opera Hall has a chandelier, and I was kind of like, is it going to fall? I hope not. |
| 1:33.1 | That's Katie Waldman, a staff writer at The New Yorker who covers culture, books, and more. |
| 1:39.3 | This year's Kennedy Center honors, the first under Trump's second term, and the first under his chairmanship, |
| 1:41.7 | looked very different from previous years. |
| 1:45.6 | The ceremony was shaped by Trump's own tastes, from the event's production design |
| 1:47.5 | to a lineup of honorees that included Kiss and Sylvester Stallone. |
... |
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