WASHINGTON – On Friday afternoon, the Kennedy Center, best known for its theater, opera and ballet, will be the unlikely center of the sports world when the matchups for next year's World Cup are announced there. By Sunday, in a quick pivot, the venue will assume its more traditional role as the host of the annual awards program honoring some of the top artists in the U.S.
The culture headsnap has one thing in common: President Donald Trump's starring role.
Recommended Videos
Trump was instrumental in working with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to move the draw to the Kennedy Center after it was widely expected to take place in Las Vegas. FIFA may further recognize Trump at the event with a newly created peace prize. Infantino hasn't confirmed that Trump will be the recipient but the two have forged a notably close relationship and Trump has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize. On the same day last month that FIFA said it would issue the new award, Infantino called Trump a “close friend" who has “such an incredible energy.”
If the prospect of a peace prize isn't enough attention, Trump will assume a role played in the past by the broadcasting legend Walter Cronkite and other luminaires by hosting the Kennedy Center Honors, if current plans hold. When Trump announced the honorees at the Kennedy Center in August, he cast himself as reluctantly taking on the duties at the request of his chief of staff.
“I've been asked to host,” he said. “I said, I’m the President of the United States. Are you fools asking me to do that? Sir, you’ll get much higher ratings. I said 'I don’t care.”
There are few recent parallels to the fervor that's about to descend on the Kennedy Center. When the U.S. last hosted the World Cup in 1994, the draw was held in Las Vegas and Bill Clinton, the president at the time, didn't attend. When presidents participate in the Kennedy Center Honors — Trump skipped the event during his first term — they generally stay in their box, wave to the audience and cheer the honorees.
This week's lineup is a reminder that for Trump — a two-term president, bestselling author and onetime reality television star — his favorite role is that of a showman. And Trump's transformation of the Kennedy Center from one of Washington's relatively apolitical spaces into something of an extension of his White House affords him a natural stage.
A shift that began early in Trump's second term
The shift at the Kennedy Center began quickly after Trump's return to Washington in late January. Within a month, he ousted the institution’s leadership, filled the board of trustees with his supporters and announced he had been elected the board’s chair.
Trump and his aides criticized the Kennedy Center's programming as “woke" and accused the previous leadership of financial mismanagement and neglecting the building. Some renovations have been underway in recent weeks, including using white paint over columns that were previously gold.
Deborah Rutter, who was fired as the Kennedy Center's president, said in a May statement that allegations of poor financial management were “false” and insisted that when she left, “the Kennedy Center was fiscally sound.”
But the fallout has been intense with prominent musicals such as “Hamilton” canceling performances. Actor Issa Rae and author Louise Penny also withdrew from appearances while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming resigned. Some artists have expressed a sense of sadness at the changes.
“It was always a joy to be asked to perform at the Kennedy Center,” Jane Alexander, an actor and former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, told The Associated Press.
For its part, the Kennedy Center's new leadership has said it is focusing on programming that appeals to a broad audience and doesn't lose money. Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell has emphasized “common sense” programming.
But Democrats in Congress are scrutinizing whether the new management is ultimately costing the Kennedy Center money. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, released documents last month showing the Kennedy Center entered into an agreement giving FIFA “exclusive” use of the facility from Nov. 24 through Dec. 12 at no cost, arguing that the venue was at risk of losing millions in potential revenue because of the arrangement.
Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, told the AP that it was being paid $7.4 million to hold the draw, including a $2.4 million donation from FIFA along with sponsorship opportunities and expenses. In a response to Whitehouse, Grenell said he has raised $117 million this year.
The Kennedy Center has a bipartisan history
The notion that the Kennedy Center would end up in a spat with Congress would have been unheard of just a few years ago. The venue's history is rooted in bipartisan cooperation when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower worked with Democrats who controlled Congress at the time to pass legislation that would create a national cultural center.
Since then, the facility that would become the Kennedy Center became a place where political differences were mostly put on pause. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — ideological opposites — famously attended the opera together.
The Kennedy Center Honors, which were established in 1978, have recognized a broad range of artists and, until Trump’s first term, presidents of both political parties attended the ceremony.
Conservative Charlton Heston was honored during the Clinton administration while liberal Warren Beatty received an award as then-President George W. Bush looked on.
The recipients are typically chosen by a bipartisan commission, though Trump said this year he was “about 98%” involved in the selections. Some of the 2025 winners have a history of backing Trump, including “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone, who has called Trump “the second George Washington” and founding Kiss member Ace Frehley, who endorsed Trump in 2020, calling him “the strongest leader we’ve got.”
But some Trump detractors will also be recognized, including Kiss musician Paul Stanley. And though singer Gloria Gaynor hasn't publicly criticized the president, her 1970s disco hit “I Will Survive" is both a Trump favorite and an anthem for feminists and the LGBTQ community.
When Las Vegas hosted the draw, Vanessa Williams and James Brown were headliners. FIFA announced late Tuesday that supermodel and television personality Heidi Klum, comedian Kevin Hart and actor Danny Ramirez will be on hand on Friday along with performances by Andrea Bocelli, the Village People, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger.
The Kennedy Center's big weekend caps what has been a difficult year for Washington as Trump has portrayed the city as crime-ridden even as the violent crime rate is down. The president has deployed the National Guard in the city and two members were shot — one fatally — last week just a mile from the Kennedy Center.
Tourism has taken a hit with travel research firm Tourism Economics predicting a 4.3% decline in international visits to Washington in 2025. That's slightly down from an earlier projection, giving local officials hope that events like the draw could leave potential tourists with a better image of the city.
“For us as a destination, perhaps this gives us a chance to have some positive feedback,” said Elliott Ferguson, the president and CEO of Destination DC, the city's marketing organization.
___
Italie reported from New York.