Friday, December 5, 2025

Kennedy Center Drama Continues as Trump Wants Opera House Renamed for Melania, Deadline for Honors Inductees Pending

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Donald Trump wants to end the opera component at the Kennedy Center.

He’s trying to push through a plan rename the opera house after First Lady Melania Trump.

If Congress votes for this, there is no doubt many subscribers will exit their plans.

Democrats who was still hanging tough at the Kennedy Center for the operas and symphonies simply will not pay money to sit in a theater named for the mostly absent Melania, a First Lady in name only who is considered complicit with her husband’s policies.

Maybe that’s Trump’s goal with this proposal. The Opera House can be turned into a cow palace for country music. Republicans are not known for their embrace of the finer arts.

Meantime, the wait is on to see who the new Kennedy Center board will offer as inductees for the Kennedy Center Honors. A gasp of horror is almost certain if all the inductees are right wing, Christian right, country performers, etc

Last year the announcement was made on July 18th. We are already past that point. Many artists who’ve been waiting for the Honors — like Liza Minnelli and Denzel Washington — may turn it down until Trump is out of office. One artist who could make the cut is Johnny Mathis, who’s almost 90 and seems to be among Trump’s favorites. Another could be conservative shill Lee Greenwood, whose single hit, “God Bless the USA,” is a MAGA theme song.

PS I’m told country star George Strait could be at the top of the Trump list.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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