Kennedy Center’s Bizarre Documents Are Pure Trumpian Madness

0:00If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones and I want to tell you about YouTube Premium. It has offline downloads, so you can watch without Wi-Fi, background play, so you can lock your phone and it still plays baby. Oh, and it is completely ad-free. Yes, I said it, ad-free. Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Hell eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime. This is Matt Rogers from Los Cultures, that's with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Bowen Yang from Los Cultures, that's Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. You know when people try a new food and suddenly it's like, okay, hold on, I got a new favorite food. That's the reaction a lot of people are having when they first try Kupy Mayo. Yeah, it's the one with the red cap and the little baby on the bottle. You've probably seen it at the grocery store. And this mayo is different. Manez uses whole eggs. Kupy only uses egg yolks, which gives it this rich umami flavor. It's smoother, deeper, almost buttery.

1:01Once people try it, they start putting it on everything. Egg sandwiches, fries, burgers, chefs use it, restaurants use it, people who really care about flavor use it, put it on just about anything. Then you'll understand. Kupy, the original Japanese mayonnaise. Hey everyone, I'm Katherine Randpell, the economics editor here at the Bullwerke and the writer of the receipts newsletter. I am joined by my colleague and pal Andrew Egger to talk about what is happening to the poor Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center as our listeners and viewers may know is this storied arts institution in Washington, DC that for some reason Donald Trump has decided to destroy unless he can make it a monument to himself. So Andrew and I are going to talk a little bit about what the latest is because it turns out that the Kennedy Center is threatening to close entirely. File for bankruptcy, the bye bye gone, unless Donald J. Trump can put his name back on the

2:02building as he has tried to do and courts have said he could not do and they had to get taken down and all of the above. So Andrew, what's your general like top line view on how this whole thing has gone out? Yeah, well, the first thing to note is that you're right when you say the Kennedy Center is threatening to close, but what you mean by that and what people should understand is that what we mean when we say the Kennedy Center in these contexts is the group of people that Donald Trump has installed to helm the Kennedy Center under his self appointed chairmanship of the board of that institution. Trump has taken a much more direct and much more micromanagerial role at the Kennedy Center than any president has before him. And that was true even before things started to go badly. You know, last year I remember writing in my newsletter about how funny it was that Trump was taking such an interest in the programming of the place in various little structural

3:06renovations, type things. And he had big plans for the Kennedy Center. But things started to go south extremely quickly because not only did Trump fire and alienate from the board a bunch of the people who were previously some of the biggest donors to the Kennedy Center who were some of the biggest underwriters of its ongoing financial security as an institution. He also then went out there and got really busy poisoning the well of the institution's financial stability in a million other different ways. You know, he got a bunch of performers mad at him for how ham fisted he was being toward the center. He had a bunch of cancellations of artists that were going to come and perform. He oversaw a corresponding precipitous drop in ticket sales at the place. And so, whereas he had come into office and into this role atop the Kennedy Center full of these big, braggadocious promises about how he was going to make the thing succeed

4:06and thrive like never before, he was now staring down the barrel of a total flop, a situation where, you know, just almost entirely due to his own actions and the fallout from those actions, the center had fallen on far harder financial times than when he had taken it over. And so, the president very quickly started looking for a scapegoat for this. And he basically started to say that it was only because of, you know, these various lawsuits against certain things he wanted to do at the Kennedy Center specifically put his name on the building. I mean, it was really only due to the fact that he had not been allowed to put his name on the building that these financial problems were happening, that it was only due to these lawsuits preventing him from unilaterally closing the Kennedy Center, that renovations were not happening on the schedule that he would like to see them happen at. And eventually, he kind of just, he basically just about washed his hands of the whole thing. He said in some tweets a few months back, he said, you know, we're just going to let it

5:07rot. We're going to let it die. There's these terrible people won't let me do what needs to be done to save it. And so, I'm giving up on it. And now, you know, as we get to the news of today, again, it's his people on his board, who he put there himself who to basically do nothing except facilitate his will, who are saying unless you guys cave now at the 11th hour, unless you let us say, you know, this is the Kennedy Center, you know, proudly renovated by Donald Trump. We can talk about all the different suggestions they're giving in a minute. But unless you do that, then it's over. It's game over for the Kennedy Center. We're going to be closing it up in a matter of hours. Yeah, it's bizarre. If you look at the actual court documents, the documents basically say only Trump can save us. Of Trump, of course, is the person who damned them to begin with, right? By doing all the things you just mentioned, by politicizing everything, by banning some of the programming.

6:07I know that like the, whatever, the local gay men's chorus got, got booted off of the program, which I know about because a friend of mine, who's a comedian who was performing there, had a set where he was performing and then he invited them on stage as like a sneak attack so that they could still perform there. But it's like all sorts of petty, petty things that they did to destroy the programming, to try to get performers blackballed if they decided not to perform. Like there were some actors who were in laymirs. One of Trump's favorite shows because he, it's a good show, but it's like he only knows shows from the 80s. He only knows cultural touchstones from the 80s. When laymirs came and performed at the Kennedy Center and some of the performers said that they wanted to sit it out, Rick Crennell, who was in charge of the Kennedy Center, tried to get them blackballed from all theater. So there was like a bunch of really, really petty things that they did to destroy this as an institution to alienate audiences, to alienate donors, to destroy this thing.

7:11And now the reason I give all this build up is that now they are saying only Donald Trump can rescue them. Rescue is not my word. It is their word from the court documents. So let me read you something from Exhibit B in the court documents. It says, whereas the Kennedy Center is in a dire financial position having exhausted its fiscal resources, the Kennedy Center is in such a precarious fiscal position that it will not be able to support its payroll obligations nor routine maintenance contracts within a matter of weeks. Whereas the center is seeking to appropriately recognize and acknowledge President Trump for his well-timed proffer of fiscal rescue. The board understands that without such appropriate recognition, it is unlikely that President Trump will provide the fundamental oversight of the renovation of the main building and lead the fiscal rescue of the center. So again, only Donald Trump can save them.

8:13I don't know if it's because he's going to raise the funds to save this institution that he is bankrupting or if it's because only he can oversee these renovations because they don't trust anyone else. It's like it's unclear. But this whole court filing is just an attempt to suck up to the President. Yeah, just a nutmeg for one second on that. Because it's so insane. I mean, if you were to say, Donald Trump is going to take this storied old performance venue, this really important cultural landmark that does all this stuff in DC. Say it's the beginning of 2025 and you're like a year from now, Donald Trump will be threatening to tear this building down if he can't put his name on it. That would seem insane. But that is not even our spin. That is his people in these filings saying, this is what has to happen right now. Or else Donald Trump will not care enough to let this thing continue, let this thing go on. And just to your point about what that might mean, this was a slightly undercover, I think,

9:15element of this whole story a few months ago, is that it was reported that these same MOOCs on this same board had introduced a new rule to the Kennedy Center bylaws, basically saying that if the name Trump were removed from the name of the Kennedy Center, obviously that was the big controversy in the middle there that Trump had added his own name to the building, had tried to rename it after himself. And if that were ever removed, then they would need to return a bunch of donations that they had made, that had been made to the Kennedy Center. And that this was a thing that the board voted into place. And they tried to say that, well, these donors are demanding this. These donors are saying that we will only give to an institution that has Donald Trump's name on it. As though this is important in the mind of anybody else than Donald Trump himself. Because though this is actually these organizations, these tech companies or whatever that are donating to Curry favor with the president, as though they actually care so deeply about this stuff. No, I mean, they've been salty because they may, because the only reason they gave the

10:16money presumably is to suck up to Donald Trump. So maybe they're like, why would I pay? This was an investment, and I'm not getting my ROI from the investment. I'm not getting like the kudos or whatever, the favors in the favor bank with Donald Trump if his name is no longer on the building, this donation is worthless. Who knows? Yeah, that's possible. That is true. The only thing that I'm trying to really get across is just the extent to which these financial problems, such as they are, it's hard to know to what extent they're real, to what extent they're hallucinated because these people lie about everything all the time. But to whatever extent these financial problems are real, they are real in large part because these very people have salted the earth of this institution out of their own, you know, indignation that courts have not let him just sort of run it in this imperial way. It's none of this stuff really matters. Like, the kundis Center is much smaller than so many other things that we talk about and that, that, you know, have these like big geopolitical institutions matters to us.

11:16I would like to be able to take my kids to see the national symphony there in the years ahead. But like, it's so small, but as a parable for like, the way Trump operates and the way that these institutions have to like tie themselves into pretzels to accommodate all of his, his vices and his personal aosyncrasies. I mean, it is a pretty illuminating few months we've had on this story. In fairness, I do think it is the case that they are broke. I think they're not making up the fact that the kundis Center is broke. In fact, the Washington Post had obtained some internal budget document data from earlier this year, finding that by May officials had projected the center would collect about 124 million of the 220 million in revenue. It had budgeted for the year. So it had a 23 million dollar deficit, even after some spending cuts. So like, yes, it is in financial dire straits. But again, like hotdog hot dog man, me, we're all looking for the guy who did this. This message is brought to you by Z-Biotics. I have to tell you about this game-changing product

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13:20Z-Biotics has sold more than 14 million bottles and earned the trust of thousands, including me. And I think some others at the bowl are too if I'm thinking correctly. Try for yourself today. And if you are unsatisfied, they will refund your entire order. No questions asked. Head to Z-Biotics.com slash bullwirtakes code bullwirtakes for 15% off your first order. Can I clarify one thing on that? Because you're totally right to say, we do know that part. The thing that I am less sure about whether they're shooting straight on is the deterioration of the building because it's these renovations that the president has insisted that this board has insisted or necessary not just to make it beautiful, not just to make it the way they want it to look, but for the safety of people going to shows there. There was, they have said some astonishing things in these documents about the basically rotted out state of the Kennedy Center. And I guess that could theoretically be true. Oftentimes, if an institution isn't financial trouble, that will have led to a lot of post-poned

14:25and canceled renovations and restorations and these sorts of things. But that's the part that I don't know. And that's the part where I just feel it's so surreal not to be able to know that like basic factual, factual analyses like these that the government is coming out with, even on stupid little stuff like this, like not to know whether that is just hallucinated for political reasons or whether it's real. Yeah, fair enough. So let's talk about what the center on behalf of the president is demanding. So we talked about how Trump had put his name on the center before and then a judge got it taken down. I mean, it's taken down. Ordered it taken down. Yes. And I guess, and I guess you're right, it was probably taken up, but the curtains are still there. We revealed the facade. We have no way of knowing if they actually complied because we cannot see the version of the facade without his name, you know, with his name taken down because it's all been covered up. I presume that they complied with the court order and they just too embarrassed to show us the evidence. But I also want to pause on the thing that I think is funniest about this whole

15:29rigmarole, which is that when he put his name on the center, it became the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center, which I just think is hilarious because it was in such a rush that they like couldn't even get it to make sense grammatically. And the whole thing was just such a farce. Now the board is demanding a new version of what should be on the facade again as as a recompense for Donald Trump for saving it for for the fiscal rescue that is yet to come. Yeah, the future fiscal rescue. The future fiscal rescue. Exactly. And they give, I believe it was 10 different options in these court documents for what can be placed on the marble exterior. So let's read through some of the options that the Kennedy Center Board has suggested, maybe available to provide recompense to President Trump for his forthcoming fiscal rescue. So

16:35among the options, there are 10 of them. It says option one, renovation and endowment overseen by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund, option two, renovation restoration and endowment overseen by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund. There's with gratitude for support from President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund. They're all like different variations on these themes, acknowledging the unwavering support of President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund. Or, you know, I'm skipping around option 10 is just renovation restoration and support by President Donald J. Trump. So no lack of imagination here. There are many, many iterations of cowtowing to the president as a condition. Yeah. It's like a Russian nesting doll of like ridiculous cowtowing because, I mean, you go through these options and they're also so ridiculous, you know, the brown nosing

17:38and everything. But even even the Trump Kennedy Fund, like that itself is already a piece of just sucking up that this board has done in the wake of, you know, their failed attempt to rename the whole thing after him, right? I mean, it was, it was, they fought in court. They fought like crazy. It was like one of the president's top priorities for quite a while that they, that they, you know, be able to keep his name up on the facade there. That they lose there. It's ordered, you know, they lose and they lose and they lose, they lose there and it's ordered finally taken off. They, in fact, you know, we all thought it was going to get taken off and they sort of blew through the first deadline and then finally they put up that scaffolding and we believe then did take it down, but left the scaffolding up so no one could ever see it. And then, you know, the first round of, like, don't worry, Mr. President, we're still going to give you like some kind of consolation prize for all of this was that they then established this, you know, they renamed basically the pot of money that that that that these donations go into. They renamed that the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.

18:43They renamed or attempted to rename the plaza on which the building sits, you know, after Donald Trump and again, it's all this this it's all just this crazy effort to like spare no expense and no amount of labor to just get the president's name on the place for no reason and to to make him dain to undo some if it can even be done some of the financial damage that he himself has blown in it just by being himself, you know, very publicly about it a year ago. So it's just, I mean, like it's a, you you struggle to really even communicate all of the stupid, ridiculous, intensifying outrageous about this story. And as you go through them, you feel kind of dumb because again, it is only the Kennedy Center, right? It's not like, you know, it's not like what we're doing to the world. It's not like what we're doing to, you know, the the illegal immigrant population here. It's not like what we're doing to Canada or anything like this is one performing arts center in DC, but but it's

19:43insane. And he has made it insane. It's like the reflecting pool in this way, right? I mean, it's like it's it's a story that that that is significant because of how significant he views it to be and how how many like how many things and people he is comfortable trampling over to make this one little silly thing work exactly the way that he demands it work. Well, yes. And in some ways, you're right, the consequences of destroying the Kennedy Center are very small compared to like people actually getting killed or placed in what seemed like concentration camps under this administration. But I do think it is emblematic, as you say, of a broader theme. Like this is the kind of thing you see in totalitarian governments where they where the leaders feel the need to take over cultural institutions. It's not just about exerting one's political will. It's about inserting oneself, you know, if you are the authoritarian leader into all reaches of the populace through

20:45pop culture, through everything else, demanding complete field tea and demanding that the public see you as like the arbiter of cultural taste and the face of the nation. And you know, I was I was asking a arts advocate arts administrator, someone who who writes a lot about theater that I know who works a lot on like free speech issues in theater and censorship. His name is Howard Sherman. And he's been covering, you know, different kinds of censorship of the arts or politicization of the arts at a much smaller scale for many many years. And so I asked him like, are you familiar with any any precedent for something like this? And he said, you know, not in America. This was the first time that he was aware of where someone decided to like destroy and short order a major artistic institution basically out of spite. And I said, well, like, is there an analog in another country?

21:51And he said he would have to look specifically, but it's a little bit hard to think of something that would quite line up because it's like there's something very telling about where we are on the spectrum between democracy and authoritarianism in other countries where this kind of thing might be happening. You know, like in the Soviet Union or I wouldn't be surprised if there was something in or bonds hungry before he was kicked out of office or other places like that. When the dear leader wants their name on a cultural institution wants to exert their influence on a cultural institution, it just happens, right? What's interesting here is that like we have this weird mix of sort of the authoritarian impulses and some guardrails of democracy where Trump is trying to get this done. And then when courts stime him, then he says, I'm just going to shut it down. So in other countries, you would just have like you would go from point A to point B, the

22:55the totalitarian authoritarian leader just gets his way here. He's like sort of being stymied. And there's this this tug of war between our democratic norms, our democratic ways, and these authoritarian impulses. And so that in and of itself, I think is an interesting window into where we are. Like Trump is trying to be like whatever the Orbán or Stalin or somebody else who you know got to dictate what the allowable artistic programming was for a country or for important cultural institutions. He's trying to be like that. The courts are holding him back for now. So he's then trying to retaliate the way that he knows how, which is to basically declare bankruptcy for for this institution. So I don't know. Yeah, I think we're all getting a really interesting instruction. That's such an interesting point. I not really thought about it in in those terms. I think we're all getting an interesting instruction in some of the benefits and

23:55some of the shortcomings of the specific institutions that we have to hold some of these things in check. I mean, like God loved the American courts. I think they are a great system. I think they have done a lot of important work, you know, during this presidency. They've done a lot of important work for justice for quite some time. But like when when they are faced with this just raw grasping political appetite that just does that just has no pretence about it. Just wants to basically run the show as a one man authoritarian show. It's just interesting the things that they can and the things that they can't seem to restrain. Like you might think that Trump would actually find it harder just just as a as a matter of things he could actually accomplish by snapping his fingers by fiat that actually might be harder for him to just annihilate the entire thing than it would be for him to put his name on the building. Instead, it actually seems plausible if not likely that that the thing that the courts are capable of doing is stopping him from keeping from putting his name on the building because there was a statutory reason why they could they could throw up a road

24:58block on that. But that they're they actually are unable to to really save the institution from from just malicious oversight on his part and that and that the only the only real guardrails around that are political guardrails are are not electing guys who are going to do this sort of thing in the first place. And we are all undergoing a sort of decade long education in in the some of the insufficiencies of of political guardrails. But just because of polarization because of I mean we're not going to relegate the entire Donald Trump phenomenon right here on this right here on this particular on this particular video. But but those are really the only two things right if if the courts aren't going to block it and the party is is too chicken shit to to you know step up ever about anything. So Congress cannot block it. Congress remains very snarled and sort of deadlocked on everything Trump related. Then it all ultimately can come back to just not electing guys who are going to try to do these sorts of things in the first place. And and we'll see I mean

26:01we already kind of got one second bite of the apple with with this guy. I guess America's experiencing a little bit more stringently and and with with a slightly less rose colored glasses the second time around what some of the implications of that are obviously again going far beyond the Kennedy Center. But but really those are the only two right the courts are going to do what the courts can do. And then you just have to kind of hope that that Americans can sort of see through the the fog and and make some other decisions in the future. But I guess we're going to find out. Yeah voters the ultimate guardrails that's the lesson for today. All right well thanks so much Andrew for talking through all of this. I will wait to see whether in fact the Kennedy Center files for bankruptcy and or gets completely demolished and hopefully neither of those things happen but one never knows in the current environment. Thanks for everyone else out there for watching our listening please like subscribe you can find us on on YouTube anywhere you get podcasts and subscribe to the bullwork.com. Thanks.

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