President Donald Trump posted a string of anti-Kennedy family statements just hours after the death of President John F. Kennedy’s granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg.
Trump, 79, started his Truth Social spree on Tuesday afternoon, after the Kennedy family announced the 35-year-old environmental journalist and author had succumbed to cancer.
“She will always be in our hearts,” her mourning family said in a statement Tuesday morning announcing Schlossberg’s passing. Maria Shriver, Schlossberg’s first cousin once removed, posted a lengthy tribute on X that read, “Tatiana was the light, the humor, the joy. She was smart, wicked smart, as they say, and sassy.”
However, while the Kennedy family was grieving their latest tragic loss of life, Trump decided Tuesday was the perfect time to share nearly two-week-old news stories and social media posts that called out their famous clan.
The president seemed to be reacting to a slew of artists canceling their shows at the newly rebranded “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” in protest of the unofficial name change.
Following President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Congress decided to designate the still-unbuilt National Cultural Center in Washington as a living memorial to the slain U.S. leader, recognizing his devotion to the advancement of the performing arts. The center opened in 1971.
Trump began by randomly reposting news articles, first published on Dec. 18 in MAGA-friendly outlets including Newsmax, Fox News, and Breitbart, that covered the addition of Trump’s name to the historic building.
Trump then shared a string of congratulatory posts, also from Dec. 18, including one from Richard Grennell—whom Trump personally appointed president of the Kennedy Center and who fawned on X weeks ago that “The Trump Kennedy Center shows a bipartisan commitment to the Arts.”
The president also shared more gushing praise, again originally posted before Christmas, from MAGA figures such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, as part of his Tuesday afternoon onslaught.
He also shared the Trump War Room account’s photo from earlier in December with Trump’s name in enormous font compared to “Kennedy Center.”
Trump was not done, however. He then began reposting collages of weeks-old anti-Kennedy content, sourced from X when the backlash to the name change was fresh.
That included a post from far-right author Raheem Kassam, who claimed the Kennedy family had “LONG neglected” the Kennedy Center.
“They don’t raise money for it,” he posted on Dec. 18. “They never show up. And the only Kennedy who has been there recently is a member of Trump’s cabinet.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump hosted this month’s Kennedy Center Honors, inducting faded stars including KISS, George Strait, and Gloria Gaynor. The CBS broadcast tanked in the ratings, scoring the award ceremony’s smallest-ever audience.
Schlossberg, who died from acute myeloid leukemia, was the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg. She is survived by her husband, George Moran, and their 1-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.
The latest artist to cancel their performance at the Kennedy Center has justified their decision by calling out the Trump administration.
Tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, a member of the jazz septet The Cookers, wrote about his feelings regarding the ensemble’s decision to cancel their scheduled New Year’s Eve performances at the historic performing arts center, which now features Trump’s name on the outside.
“I would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture,” Harper said on Facebook Saturday, responding to a comment on a post from Jazz Stage.
However, Grenell claimed on Tuesday that some artists booked to play at the venue are being encouraged by media outlets to boycott the performing arts center.
On Monday, Grenell insisted those acts canceling shows “were booked by the previous far left leadership.”
“Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned about booking far-left political activists rather than artists willing to perform for everyone regardless of their political beliefs,” he wrote. “The arts are for everyone and the left is mad about it.”
