WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President Donald Trump is cementing his takeover of a cultural institution.
He visited D.C.’s Kennedy Center to lead a board meeting just weeks after overhauling its leadership and promising to stop the “woke” performances there.
President Trump has a lot of criticism for the venue.
“I never realized this was in such bad shape. I’ve been so busy. I haven’t been able to be here in a long time,” said Trump.
At the start of his term the president fired the Kennedy Center board, made himself chairman, and installed his allies as new board members.
On Monday he chaired a meeting of the new board and talked about why he’s focused on remaking the institution.
“It’s a very big part of the fabric of Washington, D.C., and we’re going to make our capital great again. Just like we’re going to make our country great again,” said Trump.
President Trump and other Republicans argue the programming at the Kennedy Center has become liberal leaning and “woke’”.
“He hopes to restore arts and culture, that embrace American tradition, don’t disparage it. As we have unfortunately seen over the past several years,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Following a tour of the center the president said it had fallen into disrepair physically with complaints about the building’s design and underground facilities.
“A lot of money has been given to it and the money has not been spent,” said Trump.
The Kennedy Center takeover has sparked controversy in the arts world.
Some artists and shows including Broadway hit ‘Hamilton’ dropped out of scheduled performances in protest of President Trump’s actions but he insists his leadership will transform the cultural landmark.
“You’ll see over a period of time it will improve very greatly physically and we’re going to get some very good shows,” said Trump.
He added he plans to work with Congress on the changes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
