# Trump is Made Chair of the Kennedy Center **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 12, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248 "2025-02-12T21:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 36
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/701 "2026-09-15T18:44:02Z")
Let me get this straight: The building is in such disrepair that it must be shut down immediately…but putting his name back on the building will somehow solve this problem?? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/702 "2026-09-15T18:55:12Z")
Also, it’s simultaneously in dangerous disrepair it faces imminent closure but also safe enough for shows and rehearsals (the ones that haven’t been canceled) to continue in the meantime ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/703 "2026-09-15T18:58:42Z")
People might begin to think that the damage was deliberately created “Just To Prove A Point!”. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/704 "2026-09-15T19:03:28Z")
And of course the Kennedy Center Board, made up of stooges for _His Massive Insecurity Himself_, has voted in response to the court: CLOSE IT DOWN NOW. > [@](#): > > The board’s vote came shortly after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., rejected the board’s latest effort to add Trump’s name to the building’s facade… > > Attorneys for the board have said the legal action has kept them from doing necessary repairs, but the judge presiding over the case noted at a hearing Tuesday — as he had previously — that his earlier order preventing full closure allowed for emergency repairs. > **[Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board votes to immediately close venue for...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trumps-handpicked-kennedy-center-board-votes-close-venue-renovations-rcna597921)** > > The board made the move after finding the structure of the main building is “unsafe” and “hazardous.” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/705 "2026-09-15T19:10:37Z")
Trump’s midden heap touch soils everything he puts his grubby name on. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/706 "2026-09-15T19:17:21Z")
I like “midden heap touch”—although a bit less when I reflect that Donald wouldn’t understand it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/707 "2026-09-15T19:24:04Z")
> The board made the move after finding the structure of the main building is “unsafe” and “hazardous.” I suspect the only thing really “unsafe and hazardous” is all that goddam temporary scaffolding holding up those stupid tarps for no good reason. Trump is creating eyesores in everything he touches – the East Wing, the stupid “ballroom”, the grungy Reflecting Pool, tearing out the rose garden, all that unsightly chintzy gild in the Oval Office – he’s turning the national capital into an eyesore. Next I suppose will be the grotesquely oversized Arche de Trump tribute to himself, which will probably be ugly as sin, shoddily built by grifting contractors, and eventually fall on someone’s head. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > I like “midden heap touch”—although a bit less when I reflect that Donald wouldn’t understand it. I prefer the simple and straightforward “everything that Trump touches turns to shit”. When you think about it, it’s pretty much a remarkable universal truth. I mean, has the Orange One ever done **anything** that turned out well? His businesses have all failed, or are failing, and his projects are invariably unmitigated disasters with all the tasteful aesthetics of a dog turd. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/708 "2026-09-15T19:34:48Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I like “midden heap touch”—although a bit less when I reflect that Donald wouldn’t understand it. If that’s the bar we have to clear, we’re never going to be able to talk about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/709 "2026-09-15T19:35:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I prefer the simple and straightforward “everything that Trump touches turns to shit”. When you think about it, it’s pretty much a remarkable universal truth. I mean, has the Orange One ever done **anything** that turned out well? His businesses have all failed, or are failing, and his projects are invariably unmitigated disasters with all the tasteful aesthetics of a dog turd. Certainly a book attempting to exonerate Donald from the charge by providing counter-examples, would be a mighty-slim volume. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/710 "2026-09-16T01:08:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let me get this straight: The building is in such disrepair that it must be shut down immediately…but putting his name back on the building will somehow solve this problem?? Not quite IMHO. Putting his name on the building will (apparently) fix the finances. Provided it’s paying his grift 45/47 doesn’t care whether it falls down. Slum lord philosophy writ large. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/711 "2026-09-16T01:12:09Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I like “midden heap touch” I’d shorten it to simply “midden touch”. 'Cause 45/47 would take and glorify in that as his “Midas touch.” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/712 "2026-09-16T02:34:46Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let me get this straight: The building is in such disrepair that it must be shut down immediately…but putting his name back on the building will somehow solve this problem?? It’s just basic science, Czarcasm. Facts don’t care about your feelings. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/713 "2026-09-16T02:54:02Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Attorneys for the board have said the legal action has kept them from doing necessary repairs, but the judge presiding over the case noted at a hearing Tuesday — as he had previously — that his earlier order preventing full closure allowed for emergency repairs. That is a solid _“Pants on fire”_ there. How on earth could arguments over trumps name mean necessary repairs could not be done. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/714 "2026-09-16T03:05:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > How on earth could arguments over trumps name mean necessary repairs could not be done. Because “Nice arts center you’ve got there. It’d be a real shame if anything _bad_ happened to it.” ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/715 "2026-09-16T06:57:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let me get this straight: The building is in such disrepair that it must be shut down immediately…but putting his name back on the building will somehow solve this problem?? I believe the argument Trump is making is that putting his name on the venue will attract so many new concertgoers and donors that revenues will hit highs that were previously unimaginable, thus generating more than enough money to pay for repairs. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/716 "2026-09-16T07:05:42Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I believe the argument Trump is making is that putting his name on the venue will attract so many new concertgoers and donors that revenues will hit highs that were previously unimaginable, thus generating more than enough money to pay for repairs.   Yes, just like it did before, when Trump took over and with his name on the building the place absolutely flourished! Dozens of high-profile artists cancelled their performances, the director of the National Symphony Orchestra resigned, the board treasurer resigned, and the entire Washington National Opera moved out. So much #Winning! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/717 "2026-09-16T07:27:17Z")
It seems that @wolfpup beat me to it, but he’s correct, and I get the sarcasm: Really, what it all boils down to is, “everything Trump touches, dies.” But it demonstrates what surrounding yourself with sycophants can do to you. You start to believe that everybody loves you, that you can do no wrong, and if by chance something goes wrong, it is somehow somebody else’s fault. In the case of the Kennedy Center, the only reason it is suffering financial problems, according to Trumpists, is because Trump’s name isn’t on it. If it was, it would be swimming in money, _a la_ Scrooge McDuck. Is there nobody among those close to him, who is willing to say that the emperor has no clothes? I guess not, but there should be. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/718 "2026-09-16T11:07:44Z")
At this point we might as well let him put his name on it and watch him run in into the ground. I’m not sure it even matters anymore. Let a (non-maga) president restore it at some point in the future. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/719 "2026-09-16T18:23:23Z")
> **[The Kennedy Center saga shows how consumed Trump is with his own glorification...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/politics/kennedy-center-name-change-trump)** > > Back in December, President Donald Trump professed to be “surprised” that his hand-picked board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had suddenly voted to slap his name alongside Kennedy’s on the building. > Back in December, President Donald Trump professed to be “[surprised](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/18/politics/trump-kennedy-center-name)” that his hand-picked board of trustees of [the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/06/politics/trump-kennedy-center-takeover) had suddenly voted to slap his name alongside Kennedy’s on the building. > > Ten months later, Trump’s effort to hold the institution hostage to obtain that goal epitomizes an increasingly bizarre fixation on his own legacy – and one with potential near-term political consequences. > > Perhaps better than anything else right now, it demonstrates how consumed Trump is with his own personal glorification, even at the possible expense of his Republican Party in the upcoming midterm elections. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/720 "2026-09-16T18:39:25Z")
Last year, Congress approved more than $250 million for renovation and repair of the Center. Where did that money go? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248.md?page=37)