Last night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., an evening of celebration was to take place, but when Vice President JD Vance took his seat with his wife Usha for their first public appearance since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the audience greeted him with resounding booing for about 30 seconds. Vance was there to attend a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, with music by Shostakovich and Stravinsky. The episode reflected outrage that Trump has personally taken control of the Kennedy Center, and purged the board of trustees. In addition, the audience was annoyed by long waits and delays of more than 25 minutes caused by the strict security measures, which included the use of metal detectors at the entrance.
Last February, Donald Trump had fired the chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors and thirteen of its members, naming himself as the new chairman and bringing in Richard Grenell, his foreign policy adviser and close ally, to the top. Among the new board members Trump in fact named friends, allies and their spouses including Usha Vance.
“We took over the Kennedy Center,” Trump had declared at the time. “We didn’t like what was being staged and other things. We’re going to make sure it’s quality and that it’s not woke. No more woke in this country,” Trump had pointed out.
Meanwhile, resistance to Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center is already underway: the producers of the musical Hamilton have canceled their planned 2026 performance and several artists have canceled their performances.
