{"id":86711,"date":"2025-03-20T19:10:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T00:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=86711"},"modified":"2025-03-21T12:18:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T17:18:53","slug":"donald-trump-reportedly-expressed-affection-for-fiddler-on-the-roof-at-kennedy-center-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/donald-trump-reportedly-expressed-affection-for-fiddler-on-the-roof-at-kennedy-center-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump reportedly expressed affection for \u2018Fiddler on the Roof\u2019 at Kennedy Center meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By PHILISSA CRAMER<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 President Donald Trump counts \u201cFiddler on the Roof,\u201d the musical about a Jewish family seeking to maintain their traditions in an Old World shtetl plagued by antisemitism, as one of his favorite Broadway shows, he said while visiting the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this week.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_86712\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86712\" class=\"wp-image-86712 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-300x143.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"143\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-1024x488.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-768x366.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-1536x731.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-2048x975.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/143;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86712\" class=\"wp-image-86712 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-300x143.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-1024x488.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-768x366.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-1536x731.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts_Washington_D.C._LCCN2011632175_cropped-2048x975.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-86712\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Photo in public domain)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Trump\u2019s visit was his first since he dismissed members of the national performing arts center\u2019s board and appointed himself its chairman. He spoke at a board meeting and toured the center, according to The New York Times, which both obtained a recording of the meeting and interviewed people who had been present.<\/p>\n<p>In his comments, Trump said he possessed musical aptitude but had been thwarted in pursuing a career in the arts by his father, the real estate developer Fred Trump, according to the newspaper. The White House communications director told the Times that Trump \u201cis a virtuoso and his musical choices represent a brilliant palette of vibrant colors when others often paint in pale pastels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To take control of the Kennedy Center, which he said had leaned too \u201cwoke\u201d in its programming, Trump ousted the former board chair, the Jewish billionaire and philanthropist David Rubinstein, whose family came to the United States from Ukraine \u2014 which was part of Russia\u2019s Pale of Settlement, the setting of \u201cFiddler on the Roof.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump has not previously been reported to be a Fiddler fan, but the musical has intersected with him before. The comedian Randy Rainbow created a parody of the show\u2019s \u201cTradition!\u201d called \u201cDistraction!\u201d to pillory Trump\u2019s response to the pandemic five years ago.<\/p>\n<p>And in 2018, a Baltimore man was arrested after shouting \u201cHeil Hitler, Heil Trump\u201d during a performance because, he said, a scene showing a pogrom at a wedding reminded him of his hatred of Trump.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Donald%20Trump%20reportedly%20expressed%20affection%20for%20%E2%80%98Fiddler%20on%20the%20Roof%E2%80%99%20at%20Kennedy%20Center%20meeting\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7122],"tags":[1781,8790,8795,14493,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86711"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86713,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86711\/revisions\/86713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}