Trump Ousts Kennedy Center Board, Appointed Chairman

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump was appointed Chairman of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., a federally-run performing arts center. Trump had claimed that the Center’s board under the Biden administration did not align with the incoming administration’s goals and ousted 18 members of the board before being appointed Chairman.

The reaction to this move from Kennedy Center staff and performers has been largely negative. The Low Cut Connie band and Issa Rae, both scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center, abruptly canceled their showings, and two artistic advisers to the Center resigned their positions.

Donald Trump’s notable new board appointees include Second Lady Usha Vance; White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles; Allison Lutnick, wife of newly appointed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; and Dana Blumberg, wife of New England Patriots’ owner, Robert Kraft.

Trump expressed his desire to “make [the Kennedy Center] hot” in leaked audio of an initial meeting with the new board, according to CNN’s Jake Tapper.