President Donald Trump hosted the Kennedy Center 's leadership at the White House on Monday night, reinforcing how much attention he's devoting to remaking a premier cultural center as part of a larger effort to overhaul the social and ideological dynamics of the national arts scene.
The meeting of the center's board in the State Dining Room followed Trump firing its previous members and announcing in February that he'd serve as the board's chair. The new board, which unanimously approved Trump as its chair, is stocked with loyalists.
They include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles Attorney General Pam Bondi Usha Vance , the wife of Vice President JD Vance and Lee Greenwood , whose song "God Bless the USA," plays at Trump rallies as well as many official events, including during his trip to the Middle East last week.
Trump called it a "hot board."
"We're gonna turn it around," Trump told dinner attendees of the center. He said of running the board, "When I said, 'I'll do this,' I hadn't been there" and joked, "That's the last time I'll take a job without looking at it."