Donald Trump has appointed Usha Vance, the wife of Senator JD Vance, to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Trump recently declared his intention to take control of the centre by dismissing multiple members, stating that they “do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” He also criticized past programming choices at the Kennedy Center, specifically calling out drag performances “will stop.”
Usha Vance is among the newly appointed trustees. She studied at the University of Cambridge on a scholarship funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Trump quipped ‘the only one smarter’ than Vance is Usha
The Vice President has previously stated that Usha is “brilliant” and even more accomplished than he is. Trump himself joked that “the only one smarter” than Vance was his wife.
“I would have chosen her, but somehow, the line of succession didn’t work that way, right?” POTUS added.
On Wednesday, the Kennedy Center trustees voted to remove billionaire David Rubenstein as chairman and install Trump in his place. This was immediately followed by the resignation of Deborah F. Rutter, who had served as the center’s president for over a decade.
Trump envisions a Kennedy Center that offers performances appealing to “a broader, more inclusive and more balanced audience, instead of those that only appeal to half the country,” a source told CBS News.
“Mr. Trump doesn’t want productions to lean into ‘woke culture,’ as he believes they have in the past.”
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Who else joins the John F. Kennedy Center?
Notably, several other individuals with close ties to Trump and his administration have been appointed as trustees. These include White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and Sergio Gor, Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office. Allison Lutnick, the wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, was also named on the board.
Trump also tapped Republican donor Patricia Duggan. Country singer Lee Greenwood has also joined the trustees.
