Good evening. Tonight we’re joined by Elizabeth Williamson, who has closely covered President Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center in Washington. She explains why his focus on remaking Washington institutions isn’t helping Republicans in the midterms.
It’s Trump’s capital now, but voters aren’t living in itFor nearly his entire second term, President Trump has worked to transform the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington into a reflection of himself, with his name on the front. The takeover has driven off 100 percent of its paid performances, 90 percent of its employees and hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations, cratering the center’s finances. The newly politicized Kennedy Center has become an empty shell with more mice than people. As the damage mounted, Trump announced plans to close the center for a renovation. But this week, his administration’s lawyers escalated a legal fight over whether to keep his name on the empty building, raising the possibility of demolishing the place if he doesn’t get his way. Trump has just over two months before midterm elections that could profoundly reshape what’s left of his presidency, and he has a lot on his plate, including a war with Iran and a skittish economy. Yet my colleague Maggie Haberman told me that he continues to spend the bulk of his working hours on changes to the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian, a new White House ballroom, the botched Reflecting Pool remodel, a new “Garden of Heroes” sculpture park, an enormous triumphal arch and assorted gilded gewgaws. These capital projects could cost well over a billion dollars, at significant taxpayer expense, despite White House claims to the contrary. I’ve been writing about the president’s attacks on the Kennedy Center for months. Tonight, I ask: How does his preoccupation with remaking Washington’s landmarks play outside the capital? The numbersLike plenty of conservative or moderate Americans, Trump believes the nation’s cultural institutions have swung too far to the left, but unlike many Americans, he views his personal redesign of the capital’s institutions and landmarks as a priority. In a poll last month, CNN asked voters whether they thought Trump had gone too far, not far enough, or had been about right when it came to making changes to cultural institutions like the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian. Perhaps predictably, 84 percent of Democrats said he had gone too far, while only 28 percent of Republicans agreed. Among independents, who could be crucial in the midterms, 63 percent said Trump had gone too far. Capital construction projects were also unpopular. Asked whether Trump had gone too far in remodeling the White House and other Washington landmarks, 86 percent of Democrats, 29 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of independents agreed. The same poll made clear that voters felt more strongly about other issues, including the economy and Trump’s personal business gains while in office, like the $2.2 billion or more he pulled in on crypto and other ventures last year. Asked whether Trump had gone too far when it came to pursuing his personal business interests while serving as president, 71 percent of independents agreed, as did 91 percent of Democrats and nearly a quarter of Republicans. The strategyWith all of his focus on gilding statues, painting and repainting the Reflecting Pool, and scoping out a fancy new golf course on the Potomac, Trump could be sending a dissonant signal to Americans at a key moment for his party. “He was re-elected to do four things: bring down inflation, juice the economy, stop illegal immigration and get away from woke culture,” Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, told me. Voters are giving him “very poor marks thus far on the first two,” he added. The message: “Voters care a lot more about what happens in their lives than what happens in his life.” Democrats have pointed to Trump’s remodeling habit as evidence that “he doesn’t want to do the job,” as Senator Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia, put it this month: “He wants to build his ballroom.” Over the past 15 months Trump “has squandered what was always his superpower — people had more trust in him on the economy than they had in him as a person,” Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist, told me. In the midterms, he said, Democrats’ core indictment of Republican decision-making is that the party is ignoring voters’ concerns, as exemplified by a president “who knows the price of marble but doesn’t know the price of milk.” Fewer than one-quarter of independents in the CNN poll agreed that Trump had placed the good of the country above his personal gain; 82 percent of independents said he hadn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems. Those problems include the cost of gas, groceries, housing and health care. Voters broadly disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy and the war with Iran. Not on their list of priorities: whether or not his name adorns the Kennedy Center. Ruth Igielnik contributed reporting.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “I’ll be spending a lot of that money for candidates that I think are good.”That was President Trump, who is keeping Republicans guessing as to how his super PAC’s giant war chest will be deployed in the midterms. My colleagues Tim Balk, Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman explain how Republicans are caught in a bind when it comes to Trump, the midterms and the uncertainty about his money. Got a tip? IN ONE GRAPHIC
At first glance, Trump appears to have a knack for selecting successful primary candidates, including Senator Darline Graham, who narrowly prevailed in South Carolina this week. But because Trump mostly favors incumbents and uncontested candidates, my colleague Ashley Wu found, his primary victories are built largely on low-risk bets.
NUMBER OF THE DAY $1.2 billionThat’s how much the top 20 megadonors in the midterms have shoveled into federal races this election cycle. My colleagues Theodore Schleifer and Matt Zdun have a deep analysis of who these donors are and why they’re spending so much on American politics. MIDTERM ADS Republicans used a tragedy in an ad. The family isn’t happy.A Republican ad in Ohio authorized by Senator Jon Husted’s re-election campaign showed a young family that was killed by a semi truck this year, connecting the tragedy to illegal immigration. The family’s relatives are upset, and say they weren’t told about it. Read more from my colleague Jessica Contrera.
ONE LAST THING The jock vs. the docThe New York Jets will get at least one win this fall — in a House race in Arizona, that is. The race pits two candidates who spent time with the team against each other. The Republican, Jay Feely, is a retired kicker, while the Democrat, Dr. Amish Shah, is a former sideline doctor. Read more from my colleague Thomas Fuller, a long-suffering Jets fan. Taylor Robinson contributed reporting. Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Have feedback? Ideas for coverage? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.
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