President Donald Trump dismissed a planned boycott by members of Les Misérables on Wednesday evening as he arrived for the play at the Kennedy Center with first lady Melania Trump.
“I couldn’t care less, honestly — I couldn’t,” Trump told reporters on the red carpet when asked about reports of their protest.
“All I do is run the country well,” Trump continued. “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.”
This is the president’s first show since he named himself chairman of the Kennedy Center Board and installed former administration official Richard Grenell as its president, drawing heavy backlash from Democrats and some Hollywood actors. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance were also in attendance for the play.
Trump appeared unphased by the backlash and instead praised the showing, in which understudies were expected to fill vacant cast spots.
“This is a great production tonight,” he told reporters. “We’re going to save the Kennedy Center. We’re going to make it even better. We have all the funding. We raised a lot tonight.”
“It’s a great honor to be chairman,” he added.
The president also heaped praise upon Grenell’s leadership of the center, calling him “a great guy.”
“Ric is great,” Trump said. “He’s always done well for me, and the new era right here is going to be something. The bones of this facility are incredible. We’re going to make it really great.”
The institution has reportedly seen subscription numbers decline by 36% since the Trump shake-up, which a spokesperson denied.
“Your comparison isn’t accurate because of several factors,” Kennedy Center Vice President of Marketing Kimberly Cooper said in a statement, explaining that it launched its season ticket renewal campaign later than last year and is offering more flexibility to patrons. “We have upcoming announcements across all genres including Broadway Center Stage and new genres that we know will have strong appeal across all audiences.”
Trump said he and the first lady have seen Les Misérables multiple times.
“It’s fantastic. I thought it was just about our first choice. That’s what we got. And we have others coming. Other great ones are coming,” he added.
BEYOND THE KENNEDY CENTER: TRUMP STAGES PUBLIC ARTS TAKEOVER IN SECOND TERM
Trump’s involvement with the Kennedy Center is not the administration’s only effort to reshape the arts. He also fired National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet at the end of last month, but Sajet is still reportedly reporting to work, while the administration has canceled National Endowment for the Arts grants as well.
Separately, Trump announced he had fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, the first woman and first black person to hold the position, prompting some lawmakers to question Trump’s authority to fire Hayden given the library falls outside the executive branch.
Haisten Willis contributed to this report.