# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/141 "2025-12-26T00:06:58Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > Agree. > > No portrait. > > Not even a blank space. I was thinking _damnatio memoriae_ myself. Keep the portraits, but tear his face off of them. Leave a scarred marble surface on the Kennedy Center facade where his name once was as a reminder of his disgrace. Tear the letters off his hotel buildings and leave them looking like that bank on the old main drag that you can clearly tell used to be a Pizza Hut. Turn Mar-a-Lago into a Spirit Halloween. Rebuild the East Wing as a memorial to those who suffered and died needlessly because of him and make it a sacred and shameful place like Auschwitz is today. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Portrait_of_family_of_Septimius_Severus_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg/500px-Portrait_of_family_of_Septimius_Severus_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Portrait_of_family_of_Septimius_Severus_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg/500px-Portrait_of_family_of_Septimius_Severus_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg) ---
**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:** [December 26, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/142 "2025-12-26T00:11:57Z")
Isn’t this the same CBS News run by a handpicked sympathetic person? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/143 "2025-12-26T00:13:07Z")
One assumes this was handled by the entertainment division, not the news division. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/144 "2025-12-26T00:14:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Ellecram](#): > > > > Agree. > > > > No portrait. > > > > Not even a blank space. > > I was thinking _damnatio memoriae_ myself. Keep the portraits, but tear his face off of them. Leave a scarred marble surface on the Kennedy Center facade where his name once was as a reminder of his disgrace. Tear the letters off his hotel buildings and leave them looking like that bank on the old main drag that you can clearly tell used to be a Pizza Hut. Turn Mar-a-Lago into a Spirit Halloween.. > > [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Portrait\_of\_family\_of\_Septimius\_Severus\_-\_Altes\_Museum\_-\_Berlin\_-\_Germany\_2017.jpg/500px-Portrait\_of\_family\_of\_Septimius\_Severus\_-\_Altes\_Museum\_-\_Berlin\_-\_Germany\_2017.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Portrait_of_family_of_Septimius_Severus_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg/500px-Portrait_of_family_of_Septimius_Severus_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg) I’ve never heard of the _damnatio memoriae_ but it would be a fitting way to remember the disgrace. The scarred marble on the Kennedy Center would be a haunting spectacle. Maybe a plaque somewhere explaining it to future generations. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/145 "2025-12-26T00:57:27Z")
No plaque, please, and cover the scars with more marble. I do have a few suggestions for sites that should be named after him, though: The Donald J. Trump Nuclear Dump The Donald J. Trump Pestilence Pavilion The Donald J. Trump Memorial Cesspool\* The Donald J. Rump Center for Hemorrhoid Research \*see also _Trump’s Tomb_ ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/146 "2025-12-26T00:58:07Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > \*see also _Trump’s Tomb_ I believe you misspelled “gender-neutral restroom”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/147 "2025-12-26T01:05:45Z")
A simple plaque in the White House like other presidents have, without any insulting comments or drawing devil horns on his portrait would show the kind of class that Trump so sorely lacks. The next especially loathsome insect to be discovered could be named Revolticus trumpiae, or some such. [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/22/article-0-1167C7D9000005DC-2_634x459.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/22/article-0-1167C7D9000005DC-2_634x459.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/148 "2025-12-26T01:38:21Z")
Has Trump reacted to this news yet? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/149 "2025-12-26T01:53:52Z")
I think you mean : “Has Trump responded to this _ **FAKE NEWS** _ yet?” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/150 "2025-12-26T02:44:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > A simple plaque in the White House like other presidents have, without any insulting comments or drawing devil horns on his portrait would show the kind of class that Trump so sorely lacks. He’s a traitor and a tyrant and a mass murderer-by-proxy - and it hasn’t even been a full year yet. He’s not merely a lesser president with no class. He deserves no portait. > [@Smapti](#): > > Leave a scarred marble surface on the Kennedy Center facade where his name once was as a reminder of his disgrace. Why should he be allowed to scar the surface of our national treasure? Stick to scarring his hotels and golf courses. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/151 "2025-12-26T02:52:51Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Why should he be allowed to scar the surface of our national treasure? We didn’t appropriately shame the losers of the Civil War and that’s a big part of the reason we’re in the mess we are now. Future generations need to be reminded of the damage that an amoral populist can do to our republic. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/152 "2025-12-26T03:40:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > We didn’t appropriately shame the losers of the Civil War and that’s a big part of the reason we’re in the mess we are now. Are you in favor of the death penalty? Because that’s what would have been done with leading confederates if shaming the losers was the focus. A more plausible-to-me reason we are in our current mess is century-long failure to enforce the 15th amendment (Black voting rights). This created a tradition of right wing governance in southern states. Also plausible is that the failure of reconstruction has zip to do with 21st century nativism. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/153 "2025-12-26T03:47:47Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Are you in favor of the death penalty? Well, yes. The Confederates got off easy compared to the Nazi leadership. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > A more plausible-to-me reason we are in our current mess is century-long failure to enforce the 15th amendment (Black voting rights). This created a tradition of right wing governance in southern states. Part and parcel of the same thing. Our failure to make good on Reconstruction was this country’s second original sin and lead to a century of Jim Crow, then the Southern Strategy, Reagan, Gingrich, and the gradual transformation of the Republican party into Confederate revanchists whose dream of a white Protestant ethno-theocracy is closer than ever to coming true under Trump. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/154 "2025-12-26T05:13:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Future generations need to be reminded of the damage that an amoral populist can do to our republic. I don’t think a scar in which Trump’s name can be detected is a reminder of the damage he’s done. It says, “We tried to erase him, but look, he’s still here.” ---
**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:** [December 26, 2025, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/155 "2025-12-26T05:28:14Z")
I’m pretty sure that the expertise exists to patch over the damage done by that abominable lettering when the Kennedy Center reverts to its proper name. The stupidity involved here is just mind-boggling. Trump is so pathologically narcissistic that he actually thinks the name change will persist after he’s no longer president. No, it won’t. History respects the legacy of President Kennedy. History will piss on Trump’s grave. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/156 "2025-12-26T05:33:52Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > It says, “We tried to erase him, but look, he’s still here.” IMO, it says the opposite. “He put his name here thinking it would remain for all eternity. This is all that remains.” Very _Ozymandias_. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/157 "2025-12-27T16:26:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Trump is so pathologically narcissistic that he actually thinks the name change will persist after he’s no longer president. No, it won’t. Until Congress passes a law that the names of buildings can’t be altered after Trump does it. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/158 "2025-12-27T16:40:25Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > Trump is so pathologically narcissistic that he actually thinks the name change will persist after he’s no longer president. No, it won’t. > > Until Congress passes a law that the names of buildings can’t be altered after Trump does it. Kind of like the law that Congress passed saying that the name of institution was the “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” and that it could not be changed? 🙄 In all seriousness, I expect there will be a wholesale cleanup after Trump is gone—including removing his name from everything he has plastered it on, along with changes limiting the power of the executive. Trump is serving as a great example that the norms we have relied upon up to this point are all but useless. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/159 "2025-12-27T16:53:31Z")
> [@robby](#): > > along with changes limiting the power of the executive Some wanted this to happen in 2021-22. But realistically a Congress and Administration would not be too eager to do that, thinking how things can easily flip every 2 years. … While at it, look out for the next must-pass-or-shutdown situation to include proposed rider amendments perpetuating Trump branding, elevating his EO’s to law, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248/160 "2025-12-27T17:06:33Z")
Two lawsuits pending: A Democratic Representative who is on the Board by statute has started a lawsuit to reverse the name change. The president of the board is threatening to sue Chuck Redd, the musician who cancelled the jazz program, for $1 million. > **[Lawmaker sues to remove Trump's name from Kennedy Center](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79x0x7v70go.amp)** > > Rep Joyce Beatty, who sits on the centre's board, argues the name change is illegal because it requires approval from Congress. > **[Kennedy Center criticizes musician who canceled performance after Trump name...](https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-center-jazz-jam-canceled-993fdbcbadb34da635799012e7369452)** > > The president of the Kennedy Center is criticizing musician Chuck Redd for canceling a Christmas Eve performance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-made-chair-of-the-kennedy-center/1014248.md?page=9)