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At the Kennedy Center, Trump Puts His Pop Culture Obsession on Display
President Trump held forth about the nature of show business and his own tortured relationship with celebrity.
President Trump announced the new class of Kennedy Center honorees on Wednesday and revealed that he would host this year’s ceremony. Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
By Shawn McCreesh
Shawn McCreesh is a White House correspondent. He reported from the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Aug. 13, 2025, 6:54 p.m. ET
{snip}
Whatever else he is or has become, Donald J. Trump is at heart a pop culture obsessive. A fame junkie of the highest order. Us Weekly in human form.
That piece of him did not just fade away because he became the leader of a populist political movement and a two-time president. It’s all still wound up in there, as was evidenced by so much of what he said on Wednesday.
“Since 1978, the Kennedy Center honors have been among the most prestigious awards in the performing arts,” he said before a small group of top aides, Kennedy Center employees and a bank of television cameras. “I wanted one. I was never able to get one. It’s true, actually, I would have taken it if they would’ve called me. I waited and waited and waited, and I said to hell with it, I’ll become chairman, and I’ll give myself an honor. Next year we’ll honor Trump, OK?”
That last part was said like a joke, but really, who can be sure? Now that Mr. Trump is empowered as never before, he is scratching all sorts of long-held itches. He wants a military parade on his birthday? He throws one. He wants a Mar-a-Lago-style patio off the Oval Office? He paves over the Rose Garden and builds one. He’s sick and tired of being a pariah in the liberal showbusinessland whence he came? He takes over the Kennedy Center and decides to host an awards ceremony himself.
{snip}
Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration.
President Trump held forth about the nature of show business and his own tortured relationship with celebrity.
President Trump announced the new class of Kennedy Center honorees on Wednesday and revealed that he would host this year’s ceremony. Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times
By Shawn McCreesh
Shawn McCreesh is a White House correspondent. He reported from the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Aug. 13, 2025, 6:54 p.m. ET
{snip}
Whatever else he is or has become, Donald J. Trump is at heart a pop culture obsessive. A fame junkie of the highest order. Us Weekly in human form.
That piece of him did not just fade away because he became the leader of a populist political movement and a two-time president. It’s all still wound up in there, as was evidenced by so much of what he said on Wednesday.
“Since 1978, the Kennedy Center honors have been among the most prestigious awards in the performing arts,” he said before a small group of top aides, Kennedy Center employees and a bank of television cameras. “I wanted one. I was never able to get one. It’s true, actually, I would have taken it if they would’ve called me. I waited and waited and waited, and I said to hell with it, I’ll become chairman, and I’ll give myself an honor. Next year we’ll honor Trump, OK?”
That last part was said like a joke, but really, who can be sure? Now that Mr. Trump is empowered as never before, he is scratching all sorts of long-held itches. He wants a military parade on his birthday? He throws one. He wants a Mar-a-Lago-style patio off the Oval Office? He paves over the Rose Garden and builds one. He’s sick and tired of being a pariah in the liberal showbusinessland whence he came? He takes over the Kennedy Center and decides to host an awards ceremony himself.
{snip}
Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration.
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