President Trump left the world of arts staggering on Friday with his announcement of social networks that he intends to name himself president of the John F. Kennedy center for the performing arts in Washington and immediately end the members of the Board of Trustees, “That they do not share our vision for a golden age in arts and culture.”
Shortly after the news, the Kennedy center website became difficult to achieve due to “high traffic”, according to a note on its destination page.
“The Kennedy center is aware of the publication recently made by [the president] In social networks, ”said the artistic institution in a statement by email. “We have not received official communications from the White House regarding the changes in our Board of Trustees. We are aware that some members of our Board have received administration's termination warnings. ”
In his statement, the Kennedy center said that since its inception, the institution “has had a collaborative relationship with each presidential administration” and “a Board of Bipartisan Trustees that has supported the arts in a non -partisan way.”
“The president of the Trustee Board is appointed by the members of the Board of the Center,” the statement said. “There is nothing in the Statute of the Center that prevents a new administration from replacing the members of the Board; However, this would be the first time that such action is taken with the Kennedy Center Board. “
Trump has had a controversial relationship with the historical artistic institution, considered the most prestigious culture avatar of the nation. In 2017, he and the first lady Melania Trump jumped the honors of the Kennedy center that year after being criticized by the honoree, marking only the fourth time in the history of the organization that a president was not present.
The Kennedy Center is a federal installation authorized by a Congress Law in 1958 and maintains a public-private partnership with the Federal Government, which finances the maintenance and operations of the building. Its art programs, actions and educational initiatives are paid through the sale of tickets and gifts of donors.
The current president for more than a decade is the businessman and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. Rubenstein had planned to retire last month, but after Trump's elections, it was announced that he would remain in his role for an additional year. Board members are appointed by the president. At present, there are 36 members of the Board, some of whom were appointed by Trump during their first term, including Pam Bondi, now his attorney general, and his former Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao.
President Biden filled a series of vacancies from the Board during his last weeks in office, naming, among others, the political strategist Mike Donilon. The honorary chairs of the Kennedy center include the first ladies Melania Trump, Jill Biden, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Laura Bush.
“Last year, the Kennedy center presented resistance shows specifically aimed at our youth, this will stop,” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform. “The Kennedy center is an American jewel, and must reflect the brightest stars on its stage of our entire nation.”
This is not the first time in the first days of its second administration that Trump has taken a confrontation position towards cultural organizations. One of his first acts as president was to dissolve the President's Arts and Humanities Committee, which was established by President Reagan in 1982 to advise on cultural and artistic imports.
Trump did not say in his publication on social networks that the members of the Kennedy center board planned to expel.
