Donald Trump has announced he is planning to ban drag performances at the Kennedy Center, one of America's leading cultural venues.
The US President will fire multiple members of the Board of Trustees and appoint himself as chairman of the prestigious Washington DC arts institution.
The unprecedented move will see Trump personally oversee programming the venue, with immediate plans to reshape the centre along conservative lines.
Making the announcement on his Truth Social platform, Trump declared he would usher in a "Golden Age in Arts and Culture" at the Kennedy Center.
The unprecedented move will see Trump personally oversee programming the venue
Reuters
"We will soon announce a new board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!" the president wrote, alongside an AI-generated image of himself conducting an orchestra.
Trump specifically targeted drag performances, stating that recent shows "targeting our youth" would be stopped.
The announcement comes amid a broader push by Trump's administration to reshape federal institutions three weeks into his second term.
The President's team has moved to close government agencies and freeze spending.
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Trump specifically targeted drag performances, stating that recent shows 'targeting our youth' would be stopped
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More than two million civil servants face job cuts as Trump and his administration continue to bulldoze their way through federal bureaucracy.
The move sparked immediate backlash from the arts community, with comedian Steve Martin taking to X to mock the announcement.
Martin suggested the Kennedy Center would soon showcase "the incomparable vocal talents of Lara Trump," the president's daughter-in-law, whose singing career has been widely criticised.
"MC will be DJ Trump. I bet he can be encouraged to dance a bit!" Martin added. "Big Macs available in the lobby. You'll have a super patriot time."
Trump's move upends decades of bipartisan tradition at the Kennedy Center, where the board's 36 members are traditionally split evenly between Republican and Democrat appointees.
During his first term, Trump broke with convention by refusing to attend the Kennedy Center Honours after criticism from performers.
Trump will fire multiple members of the Board of Trustees and appoint himself as chairman of the prestigious Washington arts institution
Wikimedia Commons
Former president Joe Biden filled several board vacancies before leaving office, including appointing White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Trump's first-term appointees included attorney-general Pam Bondi and country singer Lee Greenwood.
The Kennedy Centre's current chairman is financier and philanthropist David Rubenstein, who has led the institution for over a decade.
Rubenstein had planned to retire in January but agreed to remain until September 2026 following Trump's election victory.
The centre's origins date back to 1955 under President Eisenhower, with President Kennedy later championing the project.
It opened on the Potomac River in 1971 with a Requiem Mass for the assassinated president.
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