What Bill Clinton said about Trump's arch, Kennedy Center name battle - USA Today
Former President Bill Clinton weighed in Tuesday on two of President Donald Trump’s latest projects in Washington DC: a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, and the ongoing fight over Trump’s name at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Clinton addressed both during the opening of the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in New York, where he discussed what he sees as some of the biggest challenges facing the country as it celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Trump has proposed a 250-foot triumphal arch spanning the area between DC and Virginia as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. He recently said the structure would also have military uses, including housing drones and providing a facility for snipers.
Clinton brought up the proposal early in his remarks.
“I suppose I could take my entire allotted time to discuss the self-evident wisdom of building an Arc de Triomphe in Washington to hold all our drones,” Clinton said with laughter from the audience. “Some of this stuff — it’s hard to make up.”
Clinton also addressed the fight over Trump’s efforts to put his name on the Kennedy Center. Trump has pushed for the change since taking control of the center’s board, but a federal judge ruled that Congress would need to approve a name change.
The center’s board has since voted to close the facility for renovations.
Clinton said he believes the focus on the Kennedy Center’s name has distracted from more important questions about the institution.
“I personally think that the way we’ve argued about what’s going on at Kennedy Center and all that kind of stuff, I think we’ve been majoring in the minors,” Clinton said.
“And I think — do you really think a hundred years from now, anybody’s going to care very much about who’s names on what building? Isn’t it more important what happens in the building and what happens outside the building?”
Clinton did not mention Trump by name during the remarks, but his comments came as the president continues efforts to reshape prominent DC landmarks and institutions.
