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Donald Trump ribbed the Kennedy Center during a board dinner at the White House on Monday in the president’s latest criticism of the institution after effectively installing himself as its chair in February.
“The Kennedy Center, when I said I’ll do this, I hadn’t been there,” Trump told attendees. “It’s the last time I’ll take a job without looking at it.”
The president went on to criticize the facilities at the Washington arts complex, saying “tremendous amounts of money” had been spent on there to little effect.
“I don’t know where they spent it,” Trump added. “They certainly didn’t spend it on wallpaper, carpet, or painting.”
Earlier this year, Trump broke with tradition and ousted members of the Kennedy Center board who had been appointed under the Biden administration, and the replacements Trump installed voted the president to be the center’s chair.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Trump touted other parts of his agenda, claiming his recent trip to the Middle East is being “credited as one of the — maybe the most — successful visits that anybody has made to any place.”
The president also said “progress is being made” after a “little conversation with a nice gentleman named Vladimir Putin,” a reference to Trump’s recent calls with the Russian leader and his Ukrainian counterpart, which the White House said helped pave the way for the nations to “immediately” begin ceasefire talks.
This is a live news story and will be updated with new information.
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