VIDEO: Trump Complains About Unions, HAMILTON, Addresses Honors Outside Kennedy Center

President Donald Trump is set to speak at a Kennedy Center board meeting today at 5 p.m. to discuss proposed changes to the honoree selection process, according to The New York Times. The resolution under discussion would grant Trump the authority to hire or fire those responsible for selecting honorees.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump spoke to the media upon arriving at the Kennedy Center, criticizing the cost of union labor at the venue. Referring to country singer Lee Greenwood, he stated, "Lee Greenwood wanted to sing a little song today, and because of the cost and the union structure, for him to sing a song just for the board, was going to cost $30,000. They wanted $30,000 to move a piano. So you can't have that. We're going to fix it up."

Discussing the Kennedy Center Honors, Trump signaled plans for significant changes. "We're going to have honors. It's going to be a much bigger show than it has been in the past. It got tired. Very boring, very radical left. Unless you were a radical left it just seemed that nobody was chosen. There are a lot of people out there that can get the honors. We're going to do it. It's going to be a very big show. We're going to have some surprises, some big surprises."

Emphasizing the Kennedy Center's role in Washington, D.C., Trump said, "This represents a very important part of D.C., and actually our country, and I think it’s important to make sure that our country is in good shape and is represented well. When people look at this... I’ve been hearing for a long time that they come here, and they’re disappointed when they come here. We want them to be excited. [...] I say come here and see a show. I was never a big fan of... I never liked Hamilton very much, but we are going to have some really good shows. Come here, and watch it, and you'll see over a period of time it will improve greatly, physically – and we're going to get some very good shows."

Regarding programming at the Kennedy Center, Trump pointed to Broadway productions as a key draw. "The thing that does very well, is Broadway hits. I guess we have Les Miz coming, we have some others. The Broadway hits have done very well..."

As previously reported by BroadwayWorld, when asked why he wanted to serve as chairman of the board, Trump responded, "Because I want to make sure it runs properly. We don't need 'woke' at the Kennedy Center. Some of the shows were terrible, it's a disgrace that they were even put on. So I'll be there until such time as it gets to be running right." When asked which shows he had attended at the Kennedy Center, Trump admitted, "I didn't go. I get reports that it is so bad, that I didn't want to go. There was nothing I wanted to see."

Trump appointed himself chairman of the Kennedy Center in February, subsequently removing all of President Biden's board nominees and naming Richard Grenell as the center's president.