Trump Wants Kennedy Center to Lavish MAGA-Loyal Artists With Honors
The president shakeup of the “woke” cultural hub means more artists who bend the knee could be recognized.

Pool/Getty Images
President Donald Trump wants to lavish his personal friends with Kennedy Center Honors, after parachuting himself into the hot seat at the cultural mecca. Earlier this month, Trump, who reportedly also privately railed against the center’s perceived focus on liberal artists, elected himself as chairman of the cultural hub and fired left-leaning members of the board. The Wall Street Journal reported that he also displayed confusion as to why his friends were never bestowed with coveted Kennedy Center awards. The title cited people connected to the saga who said that the president offered names like Rocky actor and Trump-ally Sylvester Stallone and “God Bless the U.S.A.” singer Lee Greenwood. During a gala at Mar-a-Lago in November, Stallone compared Trump to George Washington. Days later, alongside Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, the president-elect named him as an ambassador to Hollywood. Greenwood, who performed at Trump’s pre-inauguration rally, was last week added to the Kennedy Center board by the president. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said after Trump parachuted himself into the main seat last week: “The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke.”
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