President Donald Trump is set to take a seat at Wednesday's opening night of the award-winning musical “Les Misérables" at the Kennedy Center, where he replaced the previous leadership with loyalists, had himself installed as chairman and pledged to rid the performing arts venue of programming he has complained is “woke” and too focused on leftist ideology and political correctness.
The Republican president's attendance at the sold-out showing of the Tony Award-winning tale of redemption in 19th century France comes as he has focused more than any recent predecessor on the arts center along the Potomac River that's also a memorial to a slain Democrat president.
Presidents' involvement in the Kennedy Center's affairs had been limited to naming members to the board of trustees and attending the taping of its annual honors program in the fall.
But after returning to office in January, Trump stunned the arts world by firing the Kennedy Center's longtime director and board and replacing them with loyalists, who then named him as chairman, and promising to overhaul its programming, management and even appearance as part of an effort to put his stamp on the national arts scene.
Trump's appearance in the Opera House on Wednesday, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, will also mark his first time at a Kennedy Center performance as president. He avoided the venue after entertainment industry pushback to his policies in his first term in office, breaking with presidential tradition by never attending the annual Kennedy Center Honors taping.d to this report.
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