Kennedy Center renaming highlights Trump's reshaping of Washington in his image

William Brangham:

Since returning to the White House earlier this year, President Trump has made quick work reshaping Washington, D.C., in his image, in some cases literally. That will be on full display during what he's calling the Trump-Kennedy Center Honors, which is being broadcast on TV tonight.

The president hosted the event from the recently and controversially renamed building, one that has roots tracing back to the Eisenhower administration more than 60 years ago.

Stephanie Sy takes a closer look at its history and evolution.

Stephanie Sy:

When the building opened to the public in 1971, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts stood as a living memorial to the late president. That legacy stood untouched until last week, when the Kennedy Center board, most of whom were appointed by President Trump, followed through on the president's wishes and voted to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center.

While it takes an act of Congress to make that official, construction teams wasted no time. Within 24 hours, President Trump's name was emblazoned alongside Kennedy's in the marble facade.

For more on this change and how it's part of a larger effort by the president, I'm joined by presidential historian Mark Updegrove.

Mark, it's a pleasure to have you on the show.

Comment on this move. Is there any president for a sitting president to have major cultural buildings named after him, especially ones in which they themselves control the board?

Mark Updegrove, Presidential Historian:

No, not at all.

I mean, it would be unthinkable, I think, for a president to even entertain being the chairman of the Kennedy Center board. That was unprecedented. The president is presiding over the nation. He has some big problems to resolve. And I think the American people would agree that that is not the function of a president. We don't want to see our president acting as the chairman of the board for the Kennedy Center.

We want him addressing the challenges and the problems that come across his desk, as being not only the president of our nation, but, for all practical purposes, the leader of the free world. So this is unprecedented on so many levels.

Stephanie Sy:

From a historian's perspective, why do you think it matters that the name of this building is being changed?

Mark Updegrove:

We shouldn't have our presidents, I think, thinking about things that should be named in their honor.

President Trump is barely a quarter into his second term in office, at a time when most Americans are worried about affordability. We saw that as almost -- the off-year elections as a referendum on the Trump presidency and his failure to deliver on the promise of resurrecting our economy, bringing down inflation, boosting our employment numbers.

He hasn't accomplished that, but what he has done is renamed institutions in his honor, not something that we see from a president. I think of humility as an American value and part of the American brand. But, of course, narcissism is really part of the Trump brand. This shouldn't surprise us, but it should alarm us.

Stephanie Sy:

Tell me more about this building and how it originally came to be named after President Kennedy.

Mark Updegrove:

The Kennedy Center was not something that President Kennedy had imagined. Rather, it was the thinking of Lyndon Johnson, President Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded President Kennedy after his assassination.

President Johnson wanted to do something to reflect the best of the arts in America and named the Kennedy Center in -- for President Kennedy, partly to get it through Congress, but partly to honor the accomplishments of our 35th president, John F. Kennedy.

Stephanie Sy:

This is not the first time in recent months that the president has shown what critics say is disregard for historical and cultural sites, the demolition of the White House East Wing, for instance.

As a historian, how would you frame all of these changes taken as a whole?

Mark Updegrove:

I think it's very concerning, deeply concerning, to see this president, I think, overreach.

Fifty years ago, we called the Nixon presidency the imperialistic presidency, but it really pales in comparison to what we have seen from Donald Trump. The demolition of the East Wing of the White House is another example of President Trump just deciding to do something and doing it without consulting anyone, without looking at the rules, without looking at the precedents.

And I think that in itself is dangerous.

Stephanie Sy:

Mark, but, of course, Trump was elected. He was elected twice, and he has millions of supporters. We also know that, as a real estate magnate, he was long known to put his name on his properties. Of course, we're talking about government buildings now, including the Institute of Peace building, which bears his name.

His picture is now, by the way, in front of many buildings, like at the Department of Agriculture. But, as much as Trump critics say this is something that looks like we'd see in authoritarian regimes, haven't we seen a lot of renaming of monuments in the last several years, for example, to more align with what is viewed as politically correct today?

I mean, do you see parallels or contrast there?

Mark Updegrove:

No, I don't see any parallels.

I think there are renaming of institutions. And a couple of examples are the JFK Airport, which was named for President Kennedy, like the Kennedy Center, after his assassination. It was posthumously named for President Kennedy. The National Airport in Washington, D.C., was renamed Reagan National. Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's early in the 1990s, and so it was renamed for President Reagan in 1998, when President Clinton was in office.

So President Reagan was still very much alive, although ailing from Alzheimer's. We don't generally see these things until a president has left office and has rendered a legacy. In President Trump's case, he is only one-quarter through his second term in office. We have yet to see the legacy he will render as president.

And I think he would do well to think that -- not about being remembered for his name being on a building, but what he does in the office of the presidency of the United States to better the American people in our nation and around the world.

Stephanie Sy:

That is Mark Updegrove, the president of the LBJ Foundation.

Mark, thank you so much for joining us.

Mark Updegrove:

Thank you very much.