President Trump elected chair of Kennedy Middle by new board : NPR

President Trump is the brand new chair of the John F. Kennedy Middle for the Performing Arts, following by on a promise the president made final week. He posted the next on the social media platform Reality Social on Wednesday afternoon.

“President Donald J. Trump was simply unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of the distinguished Kennedy Middle in Washington, D.C. The President said, “It’s a Nice Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Middle, particularly with this superb Board of Trustees. We are going to make The Kennedy Middle a really particular and thrilling place!”

Trump was elected by a board that excluded the 18 Democratic appointees purged by the president final week. New board members, in response to a press release from the Kennedy Middle, embody the Vice President’s spouse, Usha Vance in addition to Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, Allison Lutnick, Lynda Lomangino, Mindy Levine, Pamela Gross, John Falconetti, Cheri Summerall, Sergio Gor, Emilia Might Fanjul, Patricia Duggan and Dana Blumberg.

In a press release despatched to NPR marking her departure, former Kennedy Middle president Deborah Rutter mentioned, partly:

“The aim of the Kennedy Middle has been to dwell as much as our namesake, serving as a beacon for the world and guaranteeing our work displays America. I depart my place happy with all we completed to fulfill that ambition. From the artwork on our phases to the scholars we’ve got impacted in lecture rooms throughout America, every thing we’ve got achieved on the Kennedy Middle has been about uplifting the human spirit in service of strengthening the tradition of our nice nation.

“I’ve been motivated my complete life by the elemental values of America – freedom, equality, and a deep perception within the American dream. Core to our American expertise can also be creative expression. Artists showcase the vary of life’s feelings – the loftiest heights of pleasure and the depths of grievous despair. They maintain a mirror as much as the world – reflecting who we’re and echoing our tales. The work of artists does not all the time make us really feel snug, nevertheless it sheds gentle on the reality.

“Very like our democracy itself, creative expression have to be nurtured, fostered, prioritized, and guarded. It isn’t a passive endeavor; certainly, there is no such thing as a clearer signal of American democracy at work than our artists, the work they produce, and audiences’ unalienable proper to actively take part.”

Trump has boasted about by no means attending a efficiency on the nation’s nationwide cultural heart. He skipped the Kennedy Middle Honors in 2018, historically attended by sitting presidents. Just a few of that 12 months’s honorees had vocally criticized his management and politics, together with the singer Cher and theater artist Lin-Manuel Miranda.

On Monday, a longtime ally, Richard Grenell, was named interim government director.

For greater than a decade, the Kennedy Middle’s board was led by philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, who had deferred retirement till subsequent 12 months and advised the New York Occasions that he believed he was on pleasant phrases with the president. Till lately, the 36-member board was notably bipartisan, with members break up equally between Republicans and Democrats. A number of had been appointed by President Biden shortly earlier than he stepped down; they included former White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and his longtime aide and advisor, Mike Donilon.

Board members are appointed to six-year phrases, and sometimes, these phrases are fulfilled. The Kennedy Middle’s management addressed the legality of Trump’s actions in a press release on Friday.

“Per the Middle’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the middle’s board members,” it mentioned. “There’s nothing within the heart’s statute that might forestall a brand new administration from changing board members; nonetheless, this may be the primary time such motion has been taken with the Kennedy Middle’s board.”