Mary Trump: Trump renamed the Kennedy Center for a reason, and it’s a tragedy
Maria Trump is putting aside his “contempt” to offer a rather compassionate, if sad, reason why the president donald trump puts “his name on everything.”
During Thursday’s episode of the daily beast podcasthost Joanna Coles asked Trump’s niece, who is a psychologist and outspoken critic of her uncle’s politics, why she thinks the president decided to rename the Kennedy Center the Trump-Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center was named in honor of President John F. Kennedy in 1964, months after his assassination in November 1963.
MANADEL and via Images
“I’m trying to contain my contempt,” Mary Trump prefaced, calling the move “obscene” and “illegal” and noting that to actually change the name of the institution, needs to be approved by Congress.
“Also, last time I checked, you’re not supposed to name things after living presidents, current or former,” he added.
Mary Trump then pivoted to give her opinion on why her uncle decided to change the name.
“He wants to turn every public space in America into some version of WWE or Ultimate Fighting,” he said, referring to the president’s cultural taste. “And it’s just grotesque that he thinks that somehow legitimizes him or gives him the same stature and prestige as someone like President Kennedy. But that’s partly why he does it: for himself.”
Elsa via Getty Images
He continued: “But here’s the thing: It will never be enough. Never.”
Mary Trump said she believes the president “is constantly trying to fill a void that can’t be filled” thanks to his upbringing and his early relationship with his parents.
“And the reason is actually quite simple: Although Donald was my grandfather’s favorite son (and by preferred I mean the most useful to him, the most useful to further his own agenda), my grandfather and grandmother made Donald unlovable,” Mary Trump said.
“The one thing, the thing he most desperately wants in his life, is to be loved. It has never been enough. It never will be. That is something impossible for him to achieve.”
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She said the reason Trump puts “his name on everything,” from steaks to Bibles to buildings (some of which he doesn’t even own). It is “all in the service of filling a black hole that cannot be filled.”
“And I think if we can step back and separate ourselves from the horrors that this man has committed and continues to commit, that’s a tragedy. It’s a tragedy to say that about another human being. I’m not saying we should worry about him or have compassion for him. I do have a lot of compassion for that child, though.”
She continued: “Because his needs will never be met and he will never be able to deal with them in a real way because he is just a terrified child who can’t face the truth about himself, we are all suffering,” she said.
Sonia Moskowitz via Getty Images
When Coles asked Mary Trump if she thinks her uncle is “aware” of this, she responded by saying he probably isn’t, “but he certainly understands it on a deep, unconscious level.”
“And that’s why a lot of your psychic and emotional energy goes into protecting yourself from that knowledge. It’s a full-time job,” he said.
Mary Trump emphasized how “obscene” it was that someone as uneducated as her uncle would want his name emblazoned on an arts center. Early in the interview, Mary Trump recalled spending vacations at her grandparents’ house, in a room the family called “the library.”
“And yes, it was called a library, but it didn’t have books until [Donald Trump’s 1987 book] ‘Art of the Deal’ was published,” he said.
He also emphasized that Kennedy’s relationship with the arts was profoundly different from that of his uncle.
Gregg DeGuire via Getty Images
“If you look at some of the things President Kennedy said about the importance of the arts and what we should aspire to as a country — many of those quotes etched on the facade of that building — it just underscores how egregious this is.” Maria Trump said. “The Donald doesn’t care at all about the arts. He and his administration have underfunded or defunded them.”
She is right. The Trump administration has taken steps to eliminate federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
“I look forward to an America… that rewards achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft,” one of Kennedy’s quotes. recorded at the Kennedy Center says. “I look forward to an America that constantly raises the standards of artistic achievement and constantly expands cultural opportunities for all of our citizens. And I look forward to an America that commands respect around the world not only for its strength but also for its civilization.”