CNN
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President Donald Trump announced an aggressive plan Friday evening to encourage the existing Kennedy Arts Center councillors to expel the chairman’s billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein.
Trump said he would appoint him as chairman of the board.
“In my direction, we will make the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC again great. I have multiple individuals from the board, including the chairman who does not share our vision for the golden age of art and culture. We decided to close it soon,” Trump said in his post to Truth Society. “We’ll be announcing a new board meeting soon. Great Chairman, Donald J. Trump!”
Since taking office last month, Trump has been trying to restructure his use of executive forces, and this effort is an impressive and personal example of retaliation targeting his political opponents.
Reubenstein, the current chairman of the board, is an ally of former President Joe Biden.
Trump’s announcement also jumps directly into the culture war when he calls the center’s programming.
Trump continued. “Last year, the Kennedy Center featured a drug show that was specifically targeted at our youth. This stops. The Kennedy Center is an American gem and has the brightest stars on stage from our nation. It has to be reflected. The best ones haven’t come yet for the Kennedy Center!”
The President appoints members to the board on a rolling basis. It was not immediately clear who would be affected by the news.
“The Kennedy Center knows of recent posts made by Potus on social media,” the Center said in a statement. “We have not received any official communication from the White House regarding changes to the board. We are aware that some members of our board have received termination notices from the administration. Masu.”
The Centre said that its governing law did not prohibit the new administration from replacing board members, but “this is the first time that such action has been taken on the Kennedy Center board.”
CNN reached out to several members appointed by the Democratic president for comments and a spokesman for Shonda Rhimes, who serves as the board’s treasurer.
On Friday evening, one of the board members appointed by the Democratic president said they have not yet received communication from the Kennedy Center about the board’s status.
Current members appointed by Trump include Lee Greenwood, Paolo Zampoli and Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
Last week, Kennedy Center president Deborah Latter announced plans to step down at the end of the year. The board began searching for her replacement and held the headhunter. Choosing her successor would likely fall for the president.
This story has been updated with additional details.
Kevin Liptak and Kaanita Iyer of CNN contributed to this report.
