MaddowBlog-Trump hosts Kennedy Center Honors, prioritizing playing over governing [View all]

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Who’s calling the shots in the White House while Trump pursues his many self-indulgent distractions, playing in the world’s most powerful sandbox?

As Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, a question went unanswered:

Who's calling the shots in the White House while he pursues his many self-indulgent distractions, playing in the world’s most powerful sandbox? www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-12-08T13:04:43.693Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-hosts-kennedy-center-honors-prioritizing-playing-over-governing

At an Oval Office event on Saturday for those receiving this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, Donald Trump took some time to talk about his role in the event. “We never had a president hosting the awards before,” he noted, adding, “If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”,,,,

Except Trump doesn’t quite see it that way. On the contrary, the Republican, perhaps best known to much of the public as the host of a reality television game show before entering politics, apparently still wants to be seen less as a political leader and more as a star. The New York Times reported:

President Trump took the stage at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday night, making himself the face of an arts event he once shunned as he paid tribute to the actor Sylvester Stallone, the singer Gloria Gaynor and other artists.

While presidents typically attend the event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mr. Trump is the first to host it, putting his administration’s cultural takeover of Washington and its institutions on vivid display.

The event was the culmination of a bizarre series of events. Trump appointed himself chair of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees earlier this year, and he started naming loyalists to leadership roles at the institution while purging its traditionally bipartisan board......

Politico’s Jonathan Martin noted last week, “Instead of focusing on governing, Trump spends his days chasing entertainment, attention and renovation projects that reflect a presidency stuck in adolescence.”

Watching the president enjoy himself as the emcee at the Kennedy Center Honors served as a reminder of the thesis’ accuracy.

As Congress prepared to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act last month, the president published an item to his social media platform, trying anew to distance himself from the scandal. “Don’t waste your time with Trump,” he wrote, referring to himself in the third person. “I have a Country to run!”

Left unanswered was the obvious follow-up question: Since when does Trump try to run the country?