{"id":166,"date":"2026-06-16T18:42:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=166"},"modified":"2026-06-16T18:42:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:42:41","slug":"trumps-obsession-is-not-with-the-kennedy-center-its-with-jfk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=166","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s obsession is not with the Kennedy Center. It\u2019s with JFK."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

At first glance, President Donald Trump\u2019s fixation on the Kennedy Center is puzzling.<\/p>\n

Read more Michelle Obama\u2019s womanhood isn\u2019t a question. Josh Hokit\u2019s idea of manhood is.<\/a><\/p>\n

The institution embodies nearly everything he disdains. Its patrons are largely residents of Washington, D.C., which backed Kamala Harris by 90% in the 2024 election. Its programs cater to elite cultural tastes rather than Andrew Lloyd Webber and UFC fights. And its understated modernist architecture is the opposite of the gilded excess that defines his brand.<\/p>\n

But his obsession does not appear to be about the symphonies, the concerts or even the building \u2014 from which he finally, begrudgingly, removed his name over the weekend. I\u2019d bet it\u2019s about the name that remains on the building: John F. Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Trump was 14 when JFK took office and 17 when he was assassinated \u2014 meaning Kennedy was likely the first president he followed with any real attention. He possessed all the things Trump has long valued: fame, glamour, wealth and media attention. The Kennedy name is the kind of brand that Trump seems to hope his last name will become.<\/p>\n

For a man with a cursory knowledge of his predecessors \u2014 such as his surprise that Lincoln was a Republican \u2014 Trump comes back to JFK surprisingly often. And like Nixon talking to the portrait of JFK in the Oliver Stone biopic, he\u2019s clearly conflicted. As president, he\u2019s released the records of the Kennedy assassination, appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his Cabinet and compared his wife to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. (\u201cWe have our own Jackie O,\u201d he said in 2019. \u201cIt\u2019s called Melania, Melania T.\u201d) But he\u2019s also covered Jackie Kennedy\u2019s Rose Garden with pavers, fired staffers of JFK\u2019s presidential library and feuded with members of the Kennedy family. <\/p>\n

Seen in this light, Trump\u2019s attempt to change the performing arts center\u2019s name to \u201cThe Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts\u201d makes more sense, as does his attempt to shutter it for renovations. And the Trump-allied board\u2019s decision Sunday to create a new endowment at the Kennedy Center in his name sounds like an attempt to placate the president after a court ordered his name be removed.<\/p>\n

If so, it didn\u2019t work. Trump posted on social media that he was washing his hands of the building and its future.<\/p>\n

Read more The U.S. turning away a Somali referee was an awful start to the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cUnless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into \u2018NEVER NEVER LAND,\u2019\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

If Trump cared about the Kennedy Center itself, having his name taken off the exterior shouldn\u2019t have changed his mind about its future. But if his only goal was to get a little of that Kennedy magic to rub off on him, then it makes sense that he\u2019s no longer interested.<\/p>\n

The irony of all this is that JFK\u2019s record is \u2014 boomers reading this, avert your eyes<\/em> \u2014\u00a0massively overrated. He was too cautious on civil rights, too eager on Vietnam and too wishy-washy on the Bay of Pigs. Most of his legislative goals were achieved under Lyndon Johnson, a crass, foul-mouthed politician who wanted to be at the center of every room, demanded personal loyalty and loved to intimidate senators \u2014\u00a0in other words, the politician that Trump should have emulated.<\/p>\n

LBJ didn\u2019t get to have Marilyn Monroe breathily sing \u201cHappy Birthday, Mr. President\u201d at Madison Square Garden, as JFK did when he turned 45. But neither did Trump, for that matter. Instead, for the week of his 80th birthday, he had a crowd boo him at Madison Square Garden and his name literally stripped from Kennedy\u2019s on an iconic building. The closest thing to Monroe that he got was a generic compliment from a bizarrely dressed UFC fight girl. If history repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce, Sunday was less Kennedy\u2019s mythic Camelot and more Monty Python\u2019s \u201cSpamalot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American public has gotten a close look at Trump over the past 10 years. And to borrow a quote, they have told him, \u201cyou\u2019re no Jack Kennedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Knicks are NBA champs \u2014 and New Yorkers share a moment to last a lifetime<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not about the concerts or shows. It\u2019s about living up to his predecessor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s obsession is not with the Kennedy Center. It\u2019s with JFK. - Long Distance Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=166\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s obsession is not with the Kennedy Center. 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