President Donald Trump was greeted with boos as he took his seat for the opening night of a new production of Les Miserables at the revamped Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening.
There were also chants of “USA! USA!” as a tuxedoed Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, adviser Corey Lewandowski, and MAGA activist Laura Loomer took their seats for the show.
This was the president’s first appearance at the prestigious arts venue since he fired its leadership and appointed loyalist Richard Grenell as the institution's new leader, also naming himself chairman.
Trump pledged in February to scrap the Kennedy Center’s “woke” programming, which he characterized as consisting of drag shows and “anti-American propaganda,” claiming it was promoting a divisive leftist political ideology.
The move upset some of the center’s patrons and performers, and it was reported that several cast members planned to skip Wednesday’s performance in protest at Trump’s attendance.
When one group of ticket holders learned that the president, his deputy, and their wives would be at the center, they reportedly donated their tickets to a group of drag performers, who duly protested in the auditorium to cheers from the audience, a moment captured in videos posted to social media last night.
The choice of Broadway favorite Les Miserables for the opening night gala is interesting given its subject matter.
The musical was adapted by Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel in 1980 from Victor Hugo’s sprawling novel of 1862 and tells the story of French peasant Jean Valjean, whom the single-minded Inspector Javert pursues over a petty crime as France lurches towards revolution, with young idealists coming together to oppose a government they consider corrupt.
The point was not lost on California Governor Gavin Newsom, currently at odds with the Trump administration over the policing of anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles, who tweeted in exasperation: “Someone explain the plot to him.”
Trump was asked about the performers’ boycott when he hit the red carpet and insisted he “couldn’t care less.”
“All I do is run the country well,” he said. “The economic numbers you saw them today, they’re setting records. We took $88 billion in tariffs in two months, far beyond what anybody expected.
“There’s no inflation. People are happy. People are wealthy. The country is getting back to strength again. That’s what I care about.”
Trump also spoke about his future plans for the Kennedy Center, whose board he replaced with loyalists, some of whom were in attendance Wednesday, including Second Lady Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and his own White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
“We want to bring it back, and we want to bring it back better than ever,” the president said. “As you know, it needs a little help from the standpoint of age and fitness, but it’s going to be fantastic.”
Trump has previously proclaimed his love for Les Miserables, telling Fox News: “I love the songs; I love the play. I think it’s great.”
He has played the musical’s anthem of rebellion, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” at past campaign events and rallies.
Trump also suggested that “we may extend” the show’s run beyond its July 13 final night.
The political drama at the Kennedy Center unfolds just two months after audience members booed the Vances as they took their seats in the upper level of the National Symphony Orchestra.
Back in late 2016, then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence was likewise booed when he attended a production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton with his family.
Pence acknowledged that he heard “a few boos” and “some cheers” and told his kids at the time: “That’s what freedom sounds like.”
The ethnically diverse cast of the popular musical, which tells the story of America’s Founding Fathers, asked Pence not to leave the venue before he listened to what they wanted to say, which was that people were worried that Trump would “not protect them.”
While the president demanded an apology and called the show “overrated,” Pence told Fox that he, his daughter and cousins “really enjoyed the show.”
