By
Since returning to power nearly seven months ago, Donald Trump has taken steps to exert unusual influence and control over everything from the economy to higher education, the judiciary to the media, private businesses to nonprofit organizations, the military to museums, labor unions to law enforcement, health care to sports teams, independent federal agencies to banks, the legal profession to the entertainment industry.
But let’s not forget about cultural institutions, too. NBC News reported:
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would host this year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, his latest move to revamp the Washington, D.C., cultural institution in his image. ‘It’s going to be a big evening. I’ve been asked to host,’ he said Wednesday as he was announcing this year’s Kennedy Center honorees.
According to the Republican, he was initially reluctant to host the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, but “they” talked him into it.
He didn’t explain who “they” might be, but Trump appointed himself chair of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees earlier this year, and he started naming loyalists to leadership roles at the institution while purging its traditionally bipartisan board.
The president also suggested that he’s inclined to use his role as chair to give himself a Kennedy Center Honor.
But while it was unclear whether this was intended to be funny, just as notable was the way in which Trump talked about his role at the cultural institution. To hear the Republican tell it, he has maintained a hands-on role, personally rejecting prospective Kennedy Center honorees whom he considered “wokesters.”
As for this year’s Kennedy Center honorees, the list includes singer George Strait, actor and comedian Michael Crawford, actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor and the band Kiss.
Stallone, it’s worth noting for context, was named earlier this year as one of Trump’s “special envoys” to Hollywood, serving as the president’s “eyes and ears” within the entertainment industry.
So to review, the sitting American president, who presumably has a day job that keeps him rather busy, has found time to lead the Kennedy Center, personally scrutinize prospective honorees, agree to host the center’s upcoming awards ceremony and approve an honor for one of his pals.
“We took over the Kennedy Center,” Trump boasted in February. Evidently, that was true.