Live: Trump visits Kennedy Center, announce honorees

(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump is set to visit the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday to announce this year’s honorees and reveal plans for upcoming renovations.

“GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS,” Trump said on social media.

The president, who did not attend performances at the center during his first term, fired the center’s board of trustees and the previous chair before appointing himself as a replacement.

Trump’s late-night announcement took staff by surprise, NPR reported, and it’s not clear whether Trump will stick to the tradition of nominating living artists, having previously floated names like Elvis Presley.

In his social media post, Trump also referred to physical changes at the center, touting a “top level of luxury and glamour.” He did not share any details, though he has shown a distinct style preference in previous renovations.

During his time in the White House, Trump has focused on bringing his own aesthetic to the historic building, embellishing decor with gold and announcing plans to build a Mar-a-Lago-like ballroom in the area currently used to house the first lady’s staff.

Trump has also steered the performing arts center toward more conservative-leaning content, including Christian-focused shows.

Since he took over, ticket sales have dropped, and some shows, including the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” have pulled out of previously planned engagements.

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Trump announces major tariff in effort to make crucial swing state ‘great again’



President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will be imposing “substantial” tariffs on any country that does not purchase American-made furniture, presumably in addition to his sweeping so-called “reciprocal tariffs” already placed on hundreds of nations.

“In order to make North Carolina, which has completely lost its furniture business to China, and other Countries, GREAT again, I will be imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Details to follow!!! President DJT”

The North Carolinian furniture industry has indeed suffered significant losses due in large part to China, which has increased its exports of cheap furniture to the United States. Between 1999 and 2009, the furniture manufacturing industry in North Carolina lost more than half of its jobs, one of the many sectors that suffered following the adoption of the NAFTA trade agreements.

Whether Trump’s pledge would boost domestic furniture manufacturing remains to be seen, though the pledge comes just shortly after the president declared war on foreign films in a similar online post in which he announced he would be imposing a 100% tariff on all foreign films.


‘There’s a literal civil war’: GOP candidate pushes Trump to use Insurrection Act



Don Brown, a North Carolina Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, argued that President Donald Trump should use the Insurrection Act to fight what he said was "literal civil war on the streets."

During a Monday interview on Real America's Voice, host Jake Novak asked Brown about Trump's decision to deploy National Guard troops in Portland.

"I just feel like we're in a civil war here in America," Novak said. "I wish, I mean, I'm not trying to be hysterical here, but I don't know what else to call it. It's becoming kinetic. People are dying, literally. I wonder if you're as alarmed as I am?"

"You've nailed it on the head," Brown agreed. "There is a literal civil war on the streets."

The candidate argued that Trump had a duty to "ensure domestic tranquility."

"The President of the United States has the authority to send in the National Guard to these cities where domestic tranquility and rampant crime have taken over, with or without the request from the local authorities," he said. "You look into the Insurrection Act. And when Americans' constitutional rights and liberties are being threatened, the president can go ahead and send in troops."

"The president has the authority to do it. And these local leaders who are soft on crime and pro-crime and just want to kiss up to antifa and all these communist left-wing groups that are intent on unraveling civil society, they're not relevant," he added. "So I'm going to encourage the president to do what he needs to do."

A lawsuit filed by Oregon and the city of Portland asserted that Trump did not have the authority to deploy National Guard troops in response to "small" protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

"There is no insurrection or threat to public safety that necessitates military intervention in Portland or any other city in our state," Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) said in a statement.

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