{"id":9825,"date":"2026-08-14T17:07:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9825"},"modified":"2026-08-14T17:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:07:06","slug":"trumps-kennedy-center-and-ballroom-fixations-are-political-malpractice-for-the-gop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9825","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Kennedy Center and ballroom fixations are political malpractice for the GOP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Republicans are facing a potentially ugly 2026 midterm election in less than three months. And nobody seems to be able \u2014 or perhaps even cares to try \u2014 to prevail upon President Donald Trump to mitigate the damage.\n <\/p>

Read more 31 health and wellness products that boosted our overall well-being (and will for life)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Two recent developments are a case in point.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Friday, Trump appealed to the Supreme Court to be able to continue building his coveted ballroom \u2014 which Americans already don\u2019t like. And the day before, the president and his handpicked board at the Kennedy Center tried to put Trump\u2019s name on the building \u2013 again.\n <\/p>\n

\n Both moves suggest Trump remains preoccupied with his self-gratification and glorification, even though it\u2019s increasingly likely to come at the expense of his party.\n <\/p>\n

\n After a federal judge rejected the previous attempt to rebrand the center as the \u201cTrump Kennedy Center\u201d \u2014 forcing the administration to remove Trump\u2019s name from the building\u2019s fa\u00e7ade \u2014 the board is now attempting a workaround.\n <\/p>\n

\n It voted Thursday to add an inscription below the Kennedy Center\u2019s sign that says the complex was \u201cRestored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.\u201d It also voted to rename the area around the center the \u201cPresident Donald J. Trump Plaza.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n (The board is also attempting to close the center for renovations again, after their previous effort was also rejected.)\n <\/p>\n

\n It remains to be seen whether the moves will pass legal muster.\n <\/p>\n

\n The federal judge who previously ruled against the administration said that federal law \u201cmakes crystal clear\u201d that the center \u201ccannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board\u2019s unilateral say-so.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n As CNN\u2019s Sunlen Serfaty notes, the law allows an \u201cinscription on the marble walls in the north or south galleries, the Hall of States, or the Hall of Nations acknowledging a major contribution.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n But even if it turns out this is legal, that doesn\u2019t make it politically wise. And it epitomizes the political malpractice coming from the administration right now.\n <\/p>\n

\n Just consider the full scope of what\u2019s happening: With just 81 days until a 2026 election in which Republicans seem to be in trouble, the administration is working to slap the name of a living, incumbent president with record-low approval numbers on a prominent cultural institution \u2014 for the second time. And crucially, it\u2019s doing so even as Americans overwhelmingly say such efforts have gone too far, that Trump and his administration are focused on the wrong things and that he is too preoccupied with his personal gain.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s as if the administration is trying<\/em> to cement those ill perceptions.\n <\/p>\n

\n A CNN poll last month found that 59% of Americans said Trump had \u201cgone too far\u201d in \u201cmaking changes to cultural institutions such as the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Even 32% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents \u2014 i.e. Trump\u2019s base \u2014 said he had \u201cgone too far\u201d on this.\n <\/p>

Read more Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene in fight over White House ballroom<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Also, a Pew Research Center poll in April found just 9% of Americans said it was acceptable to name government buildings after Trump while he is still in office. (Indeed, it\u2019s virtually unheard-of to do this for an incumbent president.)\n <\/p>\n

\n About eight times as many said either that it was not acceptable to name government buildings after Trump at all (50%), or that it would be acceptable but only after Trump\u2019s presidency is over (21%).\n <\/p>\n

\n And only 17% of Republicans<\/em> said it was acceptable to put Trump\u2019s name on government buildings during his presidency, as he\u2019s now attempting to do yet again.\n <\/p>\n

\n Which brings us to the \u201cbut.\u201d Maybe voters don\u2019t really care that much? Maybe the Kennedy Center isn\u2019t as important to some of them as it might be to you (the person who chose to read this analysis about it)? Maybe people think this is silly and bad, but that Trump\u2019s name will just be pulled off when he\u2019s no longer president?\n <\/p>\n

\n Possibly. But the situation also risks reinforcing a troubling election narrative for Trump and the GOP, which is that the president is way too focused on himself and not the things that are important to voters.\n <\/p>\n

\nCBS News polling has shown nearly 8 in 10 Americans said the Trump administration has focused \u201cnot enough\u201d on lowering prices.\n <\/p>\n

\n And the CNN poll mentioned above showed 73% said Trump \u201chasn\u2019t paid enough attention to the country\u2019s most important problems.\u201d That number has steadily risen about 20 points over the course of Trump\u2019s second term.\n <\/p>\n

\n What do Americans think he is focused on, then? Well, himself.\n <\/p>\n

\n The CNN poll also showed 66% of Americans said Trump did not put the good of the country above his own personal gain; 76% of independents and 30% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents subscribed to this view.\n <\/p>\n

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\"Construction<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nConstruction continues on the East Wing ballroom at the White House on August 10, 2026, in Washington, DC.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Focusing on the Kennedy Center \u2014 and things like the ballroom,<\/strong> which also appears quite unpopular \u2014 in the run-up to the election would seem to be solid evidence that Trump\u2019s priorities remain misplaced.\n <\/p>\n

\n Americans might not care about Trump\u2019s pet projects as much as, say, the Iran war and the high gas prices it has caused. And those issues surely remain much bigger liabilities for Trump and the GOP, particularly if the president can\u2019t end the war by November 3.\n <\/p>\n

\n But his obsession with slapping his name on things instead of lowering prices contributes to that narrative, too.\n <\/p>

Read more What \u2018super movers\u2019 can teach us about healthier brains<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republicans are facing a potentially ugly 2026 midterm election in less than three months. And nobody seems to be able \u2014 or perhaps even cares to try \u2014 to prevail upon President Donald Trump to mitigate the damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Kennedy Center and ballroom fixations are political malpractice for the GOP - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9825\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s Kennedy Center and ballroom fixations are political malpractice for the GOP - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Republicans are facing a potentially ugly 2026 midterm election in less than three months. 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