President Trump is scheduled to visit the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington on Wednesday morning to announce this year’s Kennedy Center honorees.
Who might those honorees be? The Kennedy Center teased the announcement in a social media post Wednesday. “Coming soon,” the post read, “A country music icon, an Englishman, a New York City Rock band, a dance Queen and a multibillion dollar Actor walk into the Kennedy Center Opera House….”
Mr. Trump has taken a strong interest in the Kennedy Center’s affairs ever since naming himself chairman in February, when he purged its traditionally bipartisan board of Biden-era appointees and restocked it with loyalists.
In March, Mr. Trump toured the center and met with his new board for the first time. He floated the idea of hosting the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony himself, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Trump referred to himself then as “the king of ratings.”
He boycotted the ceremony during his first term after several of the artists who were being honored criticized him.
In his post on Tuesday hyping the new honorees, he wrote: “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS.”
How much of a “whoops” that actually was remains to be seen. Last month, some Republican lawmakers proposed renaming the Opera House at the Kennedy Center after the first lady, Melania Trump.
Mr. Trump’s post Tuesday promised to bring the Kennedy Center “back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment.”
Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration.
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