Trump attends ‘Les Misérables’ at the Kennedy Center after taking over the institution

By Canadian Press on June 11, 2025.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A tuxedo-wearing President Donald Trump arrived at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday night for opening night of the award-winning musical “Les Misérables,” demonstrating his focus on an institution that he’s remaking in his image while asserting more control over the country’s cultural landscape.

The Republican president replaced the previous leadership with loyalists, had himself installed as chairman and pledged to rid the performing arts venue of programming he has complained is “woke” and too focused on leftist ideology and political correctness.

“We want to bring it back, and we want to bring it back better than ever,” Trump said while walking down the red carpet with first lady Melania Trump.

The event had a MAGA-does-Broadway feel. Ric Grenell, the Trump-appointed interim leader of the Kennedy Center, stood nearby as the president spoke to reporters. Attorney General Pam Bondi chatted with other guests. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took selfies with other attendees. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were also there.

There were more precautions than usual, given the guest list, and ticketholders had their bags searched after walking through magnetometers. Canned soda was on sale for $8, while a glass of wine cost $19.

Terry Gee, a bartender, bought his ticket for the show in November and didn’t mind Trump’s presence. It’s his sixth time seeing “Les Misérables” and “I’m going to enjoy the show regardless.”

Hannah Watkins, a nurse, only learned that Trump would be there when the Kennedy Center distributed information about extra security and she searched online to see what was happening.

“I’ve seen a lot of famous people so far, which is exciting,” said Watkins, who had claimed a spot near the VIP entrance with her mother. “Honestly we just like ‘Les Mis’ and are excited to be here.”

Presidential involvement in the Kennedy Center’s affairs had been limited to naming members to the board of trustees and attending the taping of its annual honors program in the fall.

But after returning to office in January, Trump stunned the arts world by firing the Kennedy Center’s longtime director and board and replacing them with loyalists, who then named him as chairman, and promising to overhaul its programming, management and even appearance as part of an effort to put his stamp on the national arts scene.

It’s a shift from Trump’s first term, when he avoided the venue after entertainment industry pushback to his policies. He broke with tradition by never attending the annual Kennedy Center Honors for celebrating cultural achievements.

His latest moves have upset some of the center’s patrons and performers.

In March, the audience booed Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, after they slipped into upper-level seats in the Concert Hall to hear the National Symphony Orchestra. Trump appointed Usha Vance to the Kennedy Center board along with Bondi, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Fox News Channel hosts Maria Bartiromo and Laura Ingraham, among other supporters.

Sales of subscription packages are said to have declined since Trump’s takeover, and several touring productions, including “Hamilton,” have canceled planned runs at the center. Artists such as actor Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens scrapped scheduled appearances, and Kennedy Center consultants including musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming have resigned.

Understudies may perform Wednesday night due to boycotts by “Les Misérables” cast members, but Trump said he wasn’t bothered by anyone skipping the performance.

“I couldn’t care less,” he said.

Set in 19th century France, “Les Miserables” is a sprawling musical chronicling the pitiful state of the impoverished masses in 19th century France, based on an 1862 novel by Victor Hugo.

At its center is the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who served 19 years for merely stealing a loaf of bread and breaks the law again after getting out, spending the rest of his life on the run trying to escape the reach of police inspector Javert.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has adopted a more aggressive posture toward the arts. The White House has taken steps to cancel millions of dollars in previously awarded federal humanities grants to arts and culture groups, and Trump’s budget blueprint proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Trump has also targeted Smithsonian museums by signing executive orders to restrict their funding and by attempting to fire the director of the National Portrait Gallery.

Trump hosted the board at the White House for dinner in May and said congressional Republicans have pushed for more than $250 million for repairs and maintenance at the Kennedy Center. He claimed that “tremendous amounts of money” had been spent at the center but “they certainly didn’t spend it on wallpaper, carpet or painting.”

He characterized previous programming as “out of control with rampant political propaganda” and said it featured “some very inappropriate shows,” including a “Marxist anti-police performance” and “Lesbian-only Shakespeare.”

The Kennedy Center, which is supported by government money and private donations, opened in 1971 and for decades has been seen as an apolitical celebration of the arts.

It was first conceived in the late 1950s, during the administration of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, who backed a bill from the Democratic-led Congress calling for a National Culture Center. In the early 1960s, Democratic President John F. Kennedy launched a fundraising initiative, and his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed into law a 1964 bill renaming the project the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Kennedy had been assassinated the year before.

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Associated Press writer Mark Kennedy in New York and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.

Darlene Superville, The Associated Press