Why is Trump so obsessed with the Kennedy Center?
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has long been an important cultural landmark in D.C., bringing a variety of arts programming to the region while also serving as “the Nation’s Cultural Center.” Since it opened in 1971, the Kennedy Center has also been largely apolitical. It receives some federal dollars, but sitting presidents have allowed the Kennedy Center’s board of directors to operate and curate programming without any influence from the executive branch.
That changed earlier this year, when President Donald Trump made himself the chair of the Kennedy Center board. And just this week, he inserted himself into the center’s annual marquee event by announcing this year’s recipients of a lifetime achievement award, the Kenney Center Honors.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with style reporter Travis Andrews about Trump’s move to shake up the Kennedy Center, as well as his broader goals of reshaping arts and culture institutions in the United States.
Today’s show was produced by Thomas Lu. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Washington, D.C. is of course a political town, but it's also rich with arts and culture and history, regardless of who occupies the White House. |
| 0:11.4 | A crown jewel of the city has been the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. |
| 0:15.6 | The Kennedy Center is this grand monument to theater and live entertainment that sits along the Potomac River. |
| 0:21.9 | Supporting the Kennedy Center has always been nonpartisan. |
| 0:25.2 | President Donald Trump has changed that. |
| 0:28.0 | Earlier this year, Trump was made the chair of the Kennedy Center board. |
| 0:31.9 | And this week, Trump inserted himself into its marquee event, the Kennedy Center honors. |
| 0:37.4 | It's a massive event that awards musicians, actors, and artists. |
| 0:41.7 | On Wednesday, Trump did something that a president has never done before. |
| 0:45.7 | He held a press conference at the Kennedy Center and said he was going to host the show this year. |
| 0:50.6 | I shouldn't make this political because they made the Academy Awards political and they |
| 0:54.2 | went down their tubes. So they'll say Trump made it political, but I think if we make it our |
| 0:59.6 | kind of political, we'll go up, okay? Let's see if I'm right about that. From the newsroom of the |
| 1:06.5 | Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Colby Eichowitz. It's Thursday, August 14th. Today I talk with |
| 1:13.7 | Features reporter Travis Andrews about how Trump is reshaping the Kennedy Center in his image. |
| 1:18.9 | And we'll discuss how Trump's broader goals of remaking arts and culture in America are stretching |
| 1:23.7 | the bounds of his presidential power. |
| 1:31.9 | Travis, hi, thanks for coming on. |
| 1:32.9 | Oh, thanks so much for having me. |
| 1:34.8 | So let's talk about the Kennedy Center. |
| 1:38.9 | It's long been one of my favorite places in Washington, D.C. |
| 1:41.9 | But for those who don't live here, what is it? |
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