Might Trumps’ absence affect future presidents’ attendance?
When the White House last month RSVP’d “no” to the 2017 Kennedy Center Honors — the first time a president and first lady have backed out of the event — it allowed both the Trumps and the gala hosts to breathe easily.
Since then, though, the decision has raised concerns that a precedent has been set for future presidents, allowing them to skip the starry event when politics intrudes and upending one of the few Washington traditions left for Republicans and Democrats to come together.
Recent interviews with Kennedy Center officials and others involved with the awards shed more light on President Donald Trump’s rare decision to cede ground rather than fight his critics — in this case, some of the honorees who planned to shun a reception at the White House to protest the president’s equivocal remarks about white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Advisers to first lady Melania Trump had been in close contact with officials at the Kennedy Center as the furor over Charlottesville unfolded, and both sides were concerned about protecting their interests.
The honors are the center’s most important fundraiser of the year, and there were concerns that some stars might skip the show itself or that Donald Trump’s presence might prove a drawback at a moment when some corporate leaders were distancing themselves from him.
Some current and former Kennedy Center officials said that, although the decision makes sense this year, they worry about the precedent making it easier for future presidents to decline an invitation.
“It actually brings luster to the event when the president appears — that’s one of the reasons it’s such a valuable award,” said Michael M. Kaiser, a former president of the Kennedy Center now heading the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland.
In addition, he said, the president’s presence usually helps the center’s fundraising.
“One hopes that President Trump’s decision to forgo this year’s honors is a solitary event,” he said. “We need government officials to attend the arts, to support them in their speeches, to encourage others to participate and to involve artists in their special events.”
Deborah F. Rutter, current president of the Kennedy Center, said she expects to see presidents back in their boxes in future years, possibly as early as next year.
“My mantra in the office, and out of the office, is ‘one day at a time,’” she said. “I’m not expecting that this will change it forever, one way or the other.”
The 2017 event — at which LL Cool J, Lavallade, Gloria Estefan, Norman Lear and Richie will be recognized for their contributions to the performing arts — is scheduled for Dec. 3 (with CBS set to broadcast the ceremony on Dec. 26).
The Trumps’ decision surprised Washington, in part because the president is known for being confrontational or dismissive with critics. The Kennedy Center board consists of many of President Barack Obama’s allies, including Valerie Jarrett and Susan Rice, former national security adviser — Donald Trump has yet to appoint any — but center officials said there was no push from trustees or others there to keep Trump away.
Rutter said that the decision to skip the event was wholly that of the White House. He added that, despite the controversy surrounding Trump, the event had been selling “absolutely on par” with previous years.
The hot ticket isn’t cheap. Donors who contribute $10,000-plus a year to the center receive access to advanced sales. Single seats cost $500 to $6,000 apiece; four-seat boxes go for $40,000 and six-seat boxes for $50,000. The event typically raises about $7 million for the center, whose annual operating budget is $230 million.
After the president’s remarks about the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville, more honorees began expressing reservations. Singer-songwriter Richie said recently that he would “play it by ear” as to whether he would attend the honors. Dancer and choreographer de Lavallade, 86, announced that she would forgo the White House reception “in light of the socially divisive and morally caustic narrative that our current leadership is choosing to engage in.”
Then, on Aug. 18, all 16 members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities resigned to protest the president’s seeming defense of white nationalists in Charlottesville.
Esther Olavarria, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of institutional affairs, had been in ongoing contact with the office of the first lady, Melania Trump — who, along with all other living first ladies, is an honorary chairwoman of the center.
The same day that the whole committee resigned, the White House called the center to say that the Trumps would not attend.