by WorldTribune Staff, June 8, 2025 Real World News
In February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at eliminating “divisive” and “anti-American” content from the Smithsonian Institution, which includes the Kennedy Center, which Trump named himself chairman of.
A Trump appointee on the Kennedy Center board has suggested building a marina next to it on the Potomac River, so that visitors can pull up their boats and listen to music. / Video ImageSaturday was opening night for the new Kennedy Center which the Trump Administration says puts “common sense” over ideology.
In are classic performance such as the Kennedy Center Opera House’s Saturday night staging of “Les Misérables”.
A June 1 public screening of “The King of Kings,” an animated feature film about the story of Jesus, featured a prayer wall where visitors could post their written prayers for the nation.
Out are drag shows.
The Pride Orchestra was not booked at the Kennedy Center and instead played a protest concert at Strathmore Music Center in Maryland, just north of DC.
“New leaders Trump installed have dropped programs with whiffs of wokeness, threatened to go after artists who boycott it and asked employees to take part in a group prayer session,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Trump issued an executive order in March aimed at removing what he considers improper ideologies from the Smithsonian. He said it had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” in recent years and tasked Vice President JD Vance and other officials with changing future programming.
Richard Grenell, the White House special envoy who was named executive director of the Kennedy Center in February, said Trump has taken a direct interest in the center and agreed it needed additional funding for upkeep and repairs.
“The back of the house and the front of the house have been left in an embarrassing state. I am proud to be a small part of a team where the boss eschews partisan politics in favor of putting American culture, heritage, and excellence first,” Grenell said in a statement.
Soon after Grenell was named to the leadership post, he described plans to book the venue with what he called “common sense” programming that would “actually sell tickets.” Some artists have pulled out of previously scheduled appearances.
Grenell has proposed creating residency-type programs for certain stars to perform over weeks at a time, the Journal’s report said, citing people familiar with the matter. He has suggested stars such as Dolly Parton do a stint.
This year’s Kennedy Center Honors, an annual show that has honored luminaries in the arts since 1978, is in the planning stages. The Kennedy Center typically names its honorees in late summer, and Grenell has floated the Radio City Rockettes as a potential recipient, the report said, citing a person familiar with his comments.
In late May, Trump posted to Truth Social that he had fired the director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, calling her “a highly partisan person and a strong supporter of DEI.” The president also fired a number of board members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum who were appointed by Team Biden.
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Culture War: Kennedy Center rolls out new art policy — ‘Common sense’ over ideology added by Editor Two on June 8, 2025
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