In a display of creepy pique President Donald J. Trump has lashed out at the news media, barring certain organizations from the White House grounds. The blatant attempt at censorship is too petty to be believed and will certainly be reversed on Constitutional grounds.
In this fit of self-indulgent narcissism, the President of the United States is also attempting to strong arm the Kennedy Center and force what is left of its board of lackeys to rename the landmark in Trump’s honor. It is not the first time he has attempted to bend and rebrand history. If the President has his way, a monumental arch will also be built. It will frame the busiest approach to DC. Either formally or through common usage. It will also be named for him. “Look mom and dad, there’s the Arc de Trump,” While his White House Ballroom will soon rival another French landmark the Palace of Versailles.
We have watched him sling edicts designed either to exalt him presently or revere him once he has left the scene, but the hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center is perhaps the tackiest.
I was ready to buy into most of it. The nation’s capital is looking cleaner and brighter than it has recently. Moreover, the American people knew the self-aggrandizing braggart they were voting for.
Then he insisted on getting co-star billing at the Performing Arts Center erected to commemorate the life and times of John F. Kennedy, the young and gracious 35th President, slain in 1963.
Trump’s attempted usurpation of the dead President’s memorial is so tone deaf, last week I urged him via Twitter to back off: “Dear President Trump, as someone who has often supported you, including during the Russia, Russia hoax, I ask that you forego your announced intention to demolish the Kennedy Center if it is not named in your honor. There is no honor in that, only spite.”
The closure of the Center is rude and unthinkable. Despite reams of point/counter point justifying or decrying the existential vandalism of other landmarks since Trump took office, like the East Wing and the Rose Garden, at its heart the fate of Kennedy Center has been determined by a simple fact. Many, if not most artists and cultural icons of the day are opposed to anything having to do with Trump.
In the case of the Kennedy Center, he has barged into a question of necessary renovation and repair and moved it to probable demolition, because responding aggressively to those who refuse to honor him is the way he rolls. That is why he’s attacking reporters. It takes our minds off troubles like the economy and the war with Iran.
The undeniable fact is that many performers and artists oppose everything the President says or does. They represent a broad spectrum from the National Opera to the cast of Hamilton. From Hollywood to Broadway, most hold all things Trump in low esteem. That infuriates him and ignites a reaction.
The fear now is that after the refusal to have his way and have the Center give him top billing Trump will demolish the building peremptorily, the way he wiped out the East Wing of the White House to build the biggest ballroom the Western World Has Ever Seen.
In lieu of demolition, as with the Ballroom and the National Archives he will re-imagine a new Kennedy Center complex, making it bigger, better and heftier. To appeal to his base, he could arm it with drones and snipers and claim like the Arch it is vital for national security, a sentinel guarding the upper reaches of the Potomac River.