Transcript

3.16.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Monday,
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March sixteenth, twenty twenty six. As a reminder, Radio I
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader for today is Greta by listener request.
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On Mondays, we would begin by reading Paul Preather's weekly
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column from the Lexington Herald Leader, but he did not
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write a column this week, and so today's front page
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headlines from the Washington Post are as follows. In Cape Verde,
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Joy and Worry by Rachel Chasin. Next, Iran is crippled,
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but Trump can't declare victory. Resilient Tehran still has cards
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to play, and President faces pressure to refocus on the
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economy by Michael Burnbaum. Next, some young voters have regrets
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about President over the Iran War by Dan Merrika and
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kat Zakhshev. Next, Grinnell's fiery tenure recast Kennedy Center Arts
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and Music Center became a flashpoint in Trump's culture wars
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by Jeff Edgers. Next, Trump ally proposes new White House
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makeover by Dan Diamond and Aaron Steckelberg. And last a
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Saintly Night for The Sinner's Star. Michael B. Jordan wins
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Best Actor at the Academy Awards on Sunday Night in Hollywood,
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where the big awards were spread around. Despite it being
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on the front page of the print edition. I'm not
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finding the article about Cape Verde, so we'll move on
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to Iran is crippled, but Trump can't declare victory. Trump
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is eager to declare victory, but a battered Iran still
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has cards to play. The US and Israel crippled Iranian
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forces in two weeks of war, but Tran's villaity to
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disrupt oil flows and its uranium stockpile complicate the push
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to end it. By melcol Burnbaum. After two weeks of
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war against Iran, President Donald Trump may soon be ready
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to declare victory, but he confronts a challenge. Tehran also
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gets a vote. With most of Iran's navy eliminated, much
2:21
of its missile stockpile destroyed, and top leaders killed, Trump
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is nearing the goals his military leaders set at the
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outset of the war, but two weeks of conflict have
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not achieved the broader aims. Trump has sometimes declared a
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hardened regime in Tehran remains in power, and it is
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roiling global oil markets by choking off the vital shipping
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lane that allows oil and gas out of the Persian Gulf.
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The country's leaders may be more eager than ever to
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race toward a nuclear weapon. Diplomats and analysts say Iran
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retains control of what the United States and allied nations
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believe is four hundred forty kilograms of highlight enriched uranium,
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giving it another chip as the regime battles to defend
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itself and endure the US and Israeli onslaught. The paradox
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poses a challenge to Trump's ability to end the war
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as he faces increasing pressure from his own party to
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refocus attention on the economy ahead of the midterm elections.
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Gasoline prices have spiked twenty five percent since the United
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States and Israel began bombarding Iran. Farmers are raising fertilizer
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are facing rising fertilizer costs, and the death toll of
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U S troops is rising. Tehran has proved resilient in
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its ability to attack ships that try to brave the
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Strait of Ormus, making it clear unclear whether a unilateral
3:43
halt to the war by the U S side would
3:45
be enough to ease energy prices. Iranian bombardment has also
3:50
posed huge challenges to Persian Gulf nations that have traditionally
3:53
been U S allies and host American military bases. Trump
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continues to assert that he key alone controls the pace
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of the fighting. The war will end when I feel it,
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feel it in my bones, Trump told Fox News Radio
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on Friday, saying that he didn't think it would be long.
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He added, we're way ahead of schedule, way ahead. There
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is a broad gap, however, between what has been achievable
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in the battlefield and Washington's ability to control Iran as
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a regional threat, said Suzanne Maloney, an expert on US
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Iran relations who is the vice president of Foreign Policy
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at the Brookings Institution. We've had immense success in achieving
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specific military objectives, but as long as Iran can dictate
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the end date for the war and still retain a
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pathway to nuclear weapons capability, it's a strategic catastrophe, she said.
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One risk for the administration is that Taran's incentives regarding
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its nuclear stockpile may have changed, with hardliners empowered and
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potentially open to developing a crude nuclear device. Mats and
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analysts said, whether Iran can access the stockpile of enriched
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uranium gas is unknown. The canisters holding the gas are
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believed to be buried under rebel after the US bombing
5:12
of nuclear sites in June. Whether Iranian engineers and scientists
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could convert that gas into material for a dirty bomb
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is also uncertain. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khameni, who was
5:26
killed in the opening attack of the war, helped craft
5:29
decades of resistance to the United States and its allies.
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He embraced his country's nuclear ambitions as a bargaining chip,
5:37
one that was valuable even if the nuclear program stayed
5:40
just below the threshold needed for a weapon. His son
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and successor, mush Tabacaomeni, may have different calculations or may
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not possess the authority and power to hold back more
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extreme members of the Iranian security establishment. Should they push
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toward a bomb, We've stirred up a hornet's nest and
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made it even more hard line, said Brian Catullus, a
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senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. Iranian's ability to
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pose a global security threat has claimed the attention of
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every president since Jimmy Carter. Republicans and Democrats alike have
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struggled with the country's proxies, its nuclear ambitions, and its
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sponsoring of terrorism around the world. Former President Barack Obama
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gambled that a major part of his legacy would be
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a twenty fifteen agreement that imposed sharp controls on Tehran's
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nuclear program. Trump abandoned that agreement after he took office
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in twenty seventeen, saying it was too lenient. At the time,
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Democrats said abandoning the pact would eventually lead to war
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with Iran, an accusation that Trump allies denied. Asked a
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news conference Friday about Iran's nuclear fuel stockpile, Defense Secretary
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Pete Hegsath declined to say whether US forces planned a
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ground incursion to attempt to secure the highly enriched geranium,
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or whether the Trump administration planned to continue to rely
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on diplomacy to address the threat. The presidents kept his
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eye focused on nuclear capabilities, Hegxith said, and I will
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say we have a range of options up to and
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including Iran deciding that they will give those up, which
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of course we would welcome. They weren't willing to do that.
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In negotiations. I would not never tell this group or
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the world what we're willing to do or how far
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we're willing to go. But we have options for sure
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beyond the nuclear program. The joint US Israeli attack that
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started on February twenty eighth, while blasting away a significant
7:40
part of Iran's military capability, has flipped a sweat switch
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on threats from Iran, making concerns real that until recently
7:48
were only theoretical. That includes attacks on oil tankers in
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the Strait of Ormus, the twenty one mile wide choke
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point between Iran and Oman that squeezes ships coming and
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going from oil rich nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait,
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and the United Arab Emirates. Before the war, the threat
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was strategic and looming in the background and ever present,
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Katalus said, Now it's much more imminent and persistent. He said,
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it's still early, but it may have made this regime
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even much more unpredictable, and it could take pot shots
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at a moment's notice in that strait. The White House
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said that Iranian action against the Strait of Ramus has
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always been part of US planning for an attack on
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the country now that the war has started. However, the
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United States so far has proved unable to keep the
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waterway open. The US Central Command said Tuesday that it
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had conducted strikes against Iranian mind laying ships near the strait,
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a measure of US concerns. For now, the United States
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appears to be getting pulled more deeply into the fight
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because of the energy situation. On Friday, Trump declared that
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the US military totally obliterated every military target on Karg Island,
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a key Iranian energy transit chokepoint. The next day, he
9:11
called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others
9:16
to send ships to battle the artificial constraint of Iran's
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attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. It was
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a notable shift from the previous Saturday, when he gleefully
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told journalists about a board Air Force one that he
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had rejected a British offer to send aircraft carriers to
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the region. Also on Friday, US officials said that a
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marine expeditionary unit would deploy from Japan to the Middle East,
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adding to the firepower in the region. The unit includes
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more than twenty two hundred marines, and is complemented by
9:49
more than two thousand additional Navy personnel spread across three warships.
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Senator Lindsay Graham, Republican of South Carolina, a hawkish lawmaker
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and Trump confidant who for years has advocated regime changing Iran,
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hinted that Marines could soon attack KRG Island, a shift
10:07
to a ground invasion that would be a major escalation.
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He who controls carg Island controls the destiny of this war,
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Graham posted on x SEM five semper fi is the
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slogan of the Marines. It was not clear whether the
10:23
latest deployment has any connection to KRG. The Marines are
10:27
trained in amphibious landings, seizing islands, and launching rocket artillery
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at adversaries at sea. The deployment was first reported by
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The Wall Street Journal. Top Pentagon leaders say that the
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Strait of Hormus is an increasing focus of their efforts,
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but they have tacitly acknowledged the challenge they face. Despite
10:48
having destroyed much of Iran's navy, The only thing prohibiting
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transit in the Straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping.
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It is open for transit, should Iran not do that,
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Hexath said Friday set at Friday's news conference, it may
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be some time before the US military is able to
11:06
address the straight problem, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday,
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telling CNBC that an operation might be ready by the
11:14
end of the month. Until then, the United States and
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its allies are being forced to take extraordinary measures to
11:21
try to ease oil prices. The thirty two member countries
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of the International Energy Agency announced Wednesday but they planned
11:30
to release four hundred million barrels of oil from their stockpiles,
11:34
including one hundred seventy two million barrels from the United States,
11:39
in another effort to deliver oil's supplies to global markets.
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The Trump administration also suspended sanctions on Thursday against Russian
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oil exports, a setback for the president's efforts to end
11:50
the war in Ukraine. The decision will deliver a windfall
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to the Kremlin's coffers and potentially give it more resources
11:58
to fund its fight. As complicated as it may be
12:02
to end the conflict now, it could get even trickier
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should the United States be pulled into some of the
12:07
more ambitious versions of Trump's objectives, including regime change, said
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Dan Shapiro, who was the U. S. Ambassador to Israel
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under Obama and is now a fellow at the Atlantic Council.
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Trump could manage some of the challenges around the Strait
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and the Uranium without getting locked into an endless conflict
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with Tehran. He said. It's not clear that Iran would
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accept a unilateral, unilaterally declared ceasefire. He said, if they don't,
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of course the U. S would have to respond, but
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that response can be shaped in a way that gets
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on a path toward gradual, mutual de escalation. That seems
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to me to be a wiser course than this ever
12:47
shifting set of objectives and really ever receding end point
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which we seem otherwise to be getting pulled toward. For
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our next article, young voters helped elect Trump, but some
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have regrets over the Iran War. They were a key
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part of the coalition that powered the president's come back,
13:07
and their frustrations signal vulnerability for Republicans ahead of the midterms.
13:12
By Dan Merrika and Katzakzchewsky from Charlotte. Joshua Byers was
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hopeful when he voted for Donald Trump in twenty twenty four.
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The twenty six year old document clerk believed the former
13:26
and future president when he said he would lower prices
13:29
and improve the lives of the working class. Over a
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year into Trump's second stint in the White House and
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overwhelmed with concern about the war with Iran, Buyer's remorse
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has set in for Buyers. I feel betrayed, Buyers told
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The Washington Post after participating in a focused group of
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young voters outside Charlotte. I don't know why we are
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fighting in Iran if we have never been attacked, Buyers
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told the group of around two dozen young people, I
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just don't understand why. Buyer's concerns highlight a growing sentiment
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among younger Trump supporters. Many in the focus groups said
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they believed Trump's pitch in twenty twenty four, helping catapult
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him back to the White House by drawing more support
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from young voters than any Republican presidential candidate in two decades,
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but with prices stubbornly high, a belief that Trump is
14:22
overly focused on international conflict, and concerns about how federal
14:26
officials are implementing the president's immigration policy. They also said
14:30
they are questioning why they voted in the first place.
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The young voter's frustrations signal a broader vulnerability for Republicans
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with a key prong of the unique coalition that powered
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Trump's political comeback. The focus group in North Carolina polling
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and a growing course of criticism from the male influencers
14:49
who endorsed Trump suggests the right word shift among men
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in their late teens and twenties in twenty twenty four
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may have been an isolated incident. I wouldn't even see
15:00
say it's living, James Weist, a twenty three year old
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arcade technician from Mooresville, North Carolina, said of his life
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during the focus group organized by Harvard University's Institute of Politics,
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It's more survival. A Washington Post ABC IPSOS poll released
15:19
last month found seventy percent of eighteen to twenty nine
15:22
year olds disapproved of Trump's handling of the presidency, compared
15:26
with twenty nine percent who approved. Young people who supported
15:31
Trump are also notably less enthusiastic about voting in the
15:34
mid terms, with fifty one percent of eighteen to thirty
15:38
nine year olds who voted for Trump stating they're certain
15:41
to vote this fall, compared with seventy seven percent of
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Kamala Harris voters in that age group, I don't really
15:49
want to vote anymore, Buyers said, I'm really starting to
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just think it won't It just won't matter. I don't
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want to feel responsible for taking a vote and feeling
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misled or misjudged or makeing a wrong move. Young voters
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are also more likely to disapprove of the Iran war.
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According to a Washington Post poll released on Tuesday, a
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majority of voters between the ages of eighteen and twenty
16:14
nine say they oppose the military campaign in Iran, compared
16:18
to forty percent of all adults. Republicans overwhelmingly support the operation,
16:25
but the generational divide also exists within the party. The
16:29
same poll found that fifty one percent of Republicans and
16:32
Republican leaning independence under age forty support military action, compared
16:37
with seventy three percent of those ages forty to sixty
16:40
four and eighty six percent of Republicans sixty five and older.
16:46
John de la Volpe, the director of polling at the
16:49
Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics and the moderator of
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the focus group, said it was clear to him that
16:55
young people aren't buying the need for American involvement in Iran.
17:00
Gen Z grew up in the shadow of the Iraq war.
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De la Volpe said they know how it ended and
17:05
their skeptical when they hear politicians say this time it
17:08
will be different. The White House said in a statement
17:12
that the war in Iran is consistent with Trump's campaign promises.
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President Trump campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the
17:20
Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, which
17:24
is what this noble operation is seeking to accomplish. White
17:27
House spokesman Davis Ingall said in a statement, the President
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does not make these incredibly important national security decisions based
17:36
on fluid opinion polls, but on the best interest of
17:39
the American people. Last week, Trump sought to shore up
17:44
his message to young voters during a visit to Kentucky,
17:47
where he touted his efforts to lower costs in front
17:50
of a crowd of supporters that included some men in
17:53
their late teens and twenties. In front of banners that
17:56
set lower prices and bigger paychecks, Trump invited the YouTuber
18:01
and boxer Jake Paul on stage. Paul spoke about how
18:04
Trump has taught him his courage, and the President predicted
18:08
Paul would run for political office in the not too
18:10
distant future. Backstage, Paul and Trump recorded a TikTok of
18:16
themselves doing the president's signature YMCA dance. Trump also appeared
18:21
on Paul's new podcast, discussing the critical role that influencers
18:25
played in his re election reincarnation and watching Paul's fights
18:29
on Air Force One among myriad issues. After sharing career
18:34
advice for young people, Trump presented multiple explanations for the
18:38
excursion in Iran, casting the US strikes as preemptive and
18:43
intended to wipe out Iran's nuclear program. He did not
18:47
discuss the economic impact of the war in detail. The
18:51
economy's great Trump said, we take a little winding road
18:54
for a little while, but we have to wipe out
18:56
the evil. The question is whether an appeal to podcasters
19:00
will be enough to keep young voters on his side
19:03
through the months ahead. We are stepping into World War III,
19:07
Weist said, reflecting the focus group's broader concerns about the war.
19:13
We just get closer and closer every year. Lily Burrow,
19:18
a twenty three year old teacher from Charlotte who voted
19:20
for Trump in twenty twenty and twenty twenty four, said
19:24
at the gathering that she initially supported the strikes because
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she thought they were intended to change the regime in Iran,
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but her view has since shifted and now she believes
19:33
the United States is doing Israel's dirty work. It does
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change how I feel about Trump. Burrow said. He said
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there would be no new wars, and he said that
19:44
gas would be below three dollars a gallon. I am
19:47
not happy with him right now. Weist A Republican said
19:52
he feels demoralized and is unlikely to vote in the
19:54
twenty twenty six mid terms. I agree with his idea
19:59
of making a Marria a great again, but the way
20:01
he is going about it's not what I It's not
20:04
who I thought would be running this country, he said
20:06
after the focus group. He is really focusing on stuff
20:09
that pertains to him, that he is mad about, and
20:12
he does not care about what we are mad about.
20:17
Many political strategists once viewed voters between the ages of
20:20
eighteen and twenty nine as liberal by default, but men
20:24
in this group shifted rightward in the twenty twenty four
20:26
election after the Trump teams year's long campaign to reach
20:30
the most testosterone fields corners of the internet. Buyers and
20:35
others in the focus group said they got much of
20:37
their news about the twenty twenty four election from social media,
20:41
including online influencers. Buyers said he recalls how a constant
20:45
stream of pro Trump content on TikTok convinced him to
20:49
back him over Harris, the Democratic nominee. In the run
20:54
up to election day, the controversial streamer Aden Ross gifted
20:58
Trump a Rolex and a Tesla sit wrapped in an
21:01
image of the president. During an interview, Trump spent more
21:05
than three hours riffing about his false claims of election fraud,
21:09
life on Mars, and prophecies on the end of the world.
21:12
In a conversation with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, and he
21:17
talked about surviving a July twenty twenty four assassination attempt
21:21
with the four man comedy team behind the podcast Flagrant.
21:26
Those same influencers who helped Trump connect with young voters
21:29
during the election are now using their platforms to criticize
21:32
the war in Iran and reconsidering their actions in the election. Rogan,
21:38
who endorsed Trump after his twenty twenty four interview, on Tuesday,
21:41
called the Iran war so insane and said Trump had
21:45
betrayed the Americans who supported him. He ran on no
21:49
more wars and these stupid, senseless wars, and then we
21:53
have one that we can't even really clearly define why
21:55
we did it, Rogan said. Andrew Schultz, one of the
21:59
co hosts A Flagrant, has criticized Trump since last year
22:03
for doing the opposite of what he promised on the
22:05
campaign trail. In an early March episode of the show,
22:09
he and his co hosts expressed bewilderment at Trump's decision
22:13
to start a war. Naturally, Americans are furious about it, right,
22:18
Schultz said, because we're like, how the f does this
22:21
benefit me? I can't afford to pay for college, I
22:24
can't buy a home, I can't pay for health insurance,
22:27
and we're going to spend billions of dollars on a
22:30
war in a country I can't even point out on
22:32
a map. Ross, who wore a white Maga hat during
22:36
his twenty twenty fourth stream with Trump, has also expressed
22:40
regret for having associated himself with the campaign. Now that
22:45
I look back on it, I really really wish I
22:47
never got into politics. Ross told his audience in twenty
22:50
twenty five, so many people just tie me to it,
22:53
and no matter what, they don't even get to know
22:56
who I am. I don't think I'll ever care enough
22:58
again for any other Poby petician. Trump's success with young
23:04
voters was not limited to men, with the campaign also
23:07
winning over young women like Faith Pev, a twenty one
23:11
year old American sign language interpreter and Republican who said
23:14
she voted for Trump in twenty twenty four with caution
23:18
because she felt like Harris's campaign was too chaotic. It
23:22
has definitely been frustrating to see him doing things that
23:25
were not things he promised to do, and not doing
23:28
things that he promised to do, Phoev said. Peeve said
23:32
she didn't blame all Republicans for her feelings about Trump,
23:35
but said she would like to see more checks on
23:37
him and argument Democrats are already making in their attempt
23:41
to win back the House and Senate. Her concerns exemplified
23:45
the view that Trump is not focused on the right issues,
23:48
a view shared by other young voters. Did you mention
23:52
that you were planning on attacking these countries, she said,
23:55
rhetorically asking the president a question, we are fighting the
23:58
wrong battles? Next Richard Grennell's scorched earth term at Trump's
24:04
Kennedy Center. The former ambassador leaves the post after a turbulent,
24:09
combative year at the arts institution. By Jeff Edgers, it
24:15
didn't take Richard Grennell long to transform the Kennedy Center.
24:20
The fiery former ambassador took the institution's top post in
24:23
February twenty twenty five with a clear mandate from his boss.
24:28
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that
24:31
the country's center for Arts and Culture, home of the
24:34
National Symphony and Washington National Opera, was not going to
24:39
be woke, and within days of Grennell's arrival, he set
24:44
in motion the changes that would recast a nonprofit known
24:47
for presenting classical music, opera, and ballet as a key
24:51
player in the administration's culture wars. The Kennedy Center that
24:56
Grennell leaves Trump named his replacement on Friday, is vastly
25:00
different from the one he entered. Not only has it
25:03
split with the Washington National Opera, the center has experienced
25:07
reams of cancelations from artists and been abandoned by audience
25:11
members disturbed by its direction. Those performances that still take
25:16
place often play to semi empty houses, and last month,
25:20
Trump abruptly announced the center will close in July for
25:23
a two year renovation product project. This has been hard
25:28
to watch how quickly he's run it into the ground,
25:32
said one former high ranking employee who was fired during
25:35
the first week of Grinnell's tenure, and, like others interviewed
25:38
for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity out
25:42
of fear of retribution. Sharp elbowed and sharp tongued, Grinnell
25:47
has often carried himself as Trump's attack dog, lambasting media members, Democrats,
25:53
and anyone else he perceived as insufficiently aligned with the
25:56
president's agenda. In response to a Saturday post criticizing his
26:01
tenure from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island,
26:05
Grinnell shot back, your buffoonery knows no limits. You sat
26:09
silent while the place went into total disrepair. The blusty
26:15
approach came to include scolding cultural leaders online and getting
26:19
into drawn out spats with performers, ultimately redefining the center's
26:23
relationship with the arts. Grinnell and his staff brought in
26:27
what they termed more faith friendly and family shows and
26:31
celebrated a few glitzy events. The reshaped Trump hosted Kennedy
26:37
Center honors the premiere of the Millennia documentary while letting
26:41
the center's daily activities shrivel. Michael Kaiser, the Kennedy Center's
26:47
former president, defined Grinnell's term to The Washington Post as
26:51
the least productive in the history of the Kennedy Center.
26:57
Between the audience boycott and the artistic boycott, there's not
27:00
much left to enjoy, said another former employee also fired
27:04
by Grinnell. All of the programmers have either quit or
27:07
been terminated. It's eerily quiet on most nights, and the
27:12
former ambassador's brusque behavior often alienated other Trump officials and allies,
27:17
who said Grinnell had few high level defenders before the
27:20
President announced his departure. Good riddance, one said Saturday, speaking
27:26
on the condition of anonymity to speak freely. But as
27:30
Grinnell walks away, some conservatives who attended the Kennedy Center
27:34
during his tenure praised his leadership. Frank Stallone, the singer
27:39
and brother of actor Sylvester Sallone, talked of how impressed
27:43
he was when he attended and performed at the Kennedy Center. Honors.
27:46
In December, he dismissed criticism of Grinnell and the Trump
27:50
appointed board over the addition of the presidents named the
27:53
Kennedy Center, an act that sparked more cancelations. When you
27:59
become present, you get rid of people and put your
28:02
people in there, said Stallone. People that take over businesses,
28:06
they want to put their people in it. He walks
28:08
to his own drum. That's how he rolls. During Trump's
28:13
first term, the President made headlines by skipping the Kennedy
28:16
Sentee honors after some of the honorees, including the late
28:20
television producer Norman Lear and dancer Carmen de Lavallade, criticized
28:25
him and refused to go to the White House for
28:28
the traditional metal ceremony. When Trump returned to the Oval
28:32
Office for a second term, he quickly began exerting control
28:35
over cultural institutions, including the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Museums.
28:42
But there was nothing in Grennell's background that hinted he'd
28:45
be a likely candidate to run the Kennedy Center. He
28:48
received his master's degree in public administration from Harvard and
28:52
spent his career in a variety of political jobs, including
28:56
posts serving former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and former
29:00
South Carolina Governor Mark Sandford. During Trump's first term, Grinnell
29:05
held several diplomatic positions, most notably as an ambassador to Germany.
29:12
Throughout his tenure at the Kennedy Center, his general focus,
29:16
as evidenced by his lively ex feed, remained in other
29:20
areas of government and partisan issues, and while staff at
29:24
the Center say they rarely saw Grennell in person, he
29:27
continued playing a diplomatic role in the second Trump administration,
29:31
engaging in talks with then Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro that
29:35
sometimes took a different tech than the State Department's own approach.
29:40
During the State of the Union, reporters captured Secretary of
29:43
State Marco Rubio on his phone scrolling through a text
29:46
conversation with Grinnell. Representative Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, was
29:53
initially surprised when Grinnell was appointed to the Kennedy Center post,
29:57
but then said he began to understand motivation behind the posting.
30:03
I felt like it was a sort of holding spot
30:05
for him, Burchett said. Trump felt he knew he had
30:08
some problems over there. And needed somebody he could trust. Still,
30:13
Grinnell's time at the Kennedy Center has been defined by
30:16
the kind of hand fighting that is typical in the
30:18
political arena and seldom seen in the more genteel world
30:22
of arts and culture. Instead of speaking to The New
30:25
York Times or The Post, he's called journalists out on
30:28
his ex feed or in texts, often responding to inquiries
30:32
by telling veteran reporters to learn to code because journalism
30:37
isn't for you. In thirteen months, he has refused to
30:42
speak on record to The Post. Grinnell did not respond
30:45
to requests for comment about his departure. An arts leader
30:50
who battled Grinnell at the Kennedy Center described him as
30:53
having a flash temper and zero people skills. When he
30:57
did engage directly with artists, it was sometimes to bash
31:01
them for what he perceived as partisan attacks. Last year,
31:05
singer yus Mean Williams, on the cusp of her Kennedy
31:08
Center date, wrote an email to Grinnell asking whether Trump
31:12
was concerned about cancellations and what had changed about hiring practices,
31:16
performance booking, and staffing. Grinnell wrote back, criticizing Williams for
31:22
her vapidness, blaming Kennedy's center budget problems on programs so
31:26
woke they don't make money, and that he cut the
31:29
DEI bullshit because the public wasn't supporting it. I was
31:34
surprised he responded honestly, but then the way he responded
31:38
was super rude, Williams said Friday definitely not someone you
31:42
would think would be the president of the largest center
31:44
of the arts. Burchette, the congressman, praised Grinnell's emphasis on
31:50
fiscal conservatism and fundraising. Though the Kennedy Center refuses to
31:54
share any financial documentation, current executives insist that previous leaders
31:59
were running a massive deficit and that under Grenel, the
32:03
Center has raised record funds. A spokesman says that programming
32:09
remains comparable to historical numbers, but an analysis by The
32:13
Post found that during Grinnell's tenure, ticket sales at the
32:17
center's three largest venues plummeted to the lowest point in years. Still,
32:23
Burchett said he agrees with Trump's decision to close the
32:26
building for renovation, having visited a green room when he
32:29
was participating in an event. The furniture in the green
32:33
room was stuff we would have put out on the
32:35
curb at my frat house, said the congressman. There is
32:39
no indication Grennell ever intended to stay at the Kennedy
32:42
Center for long, and now the task of managing the
32:45
center falls to Matt Floca, the center's vice president of
32:49
facility operations. One former employee who worked with Floca noted
32:54
that he has no arts experience, but does have experience
32:58
working on construction projects. Flocca did not respond to an
33:01
interview request. I don't want to see the place shut
33:06
down or bulldozed, the former staffer said. We want to
33:09
see it come back, and I think the major challenge
33:12
ahead is how long will it take for the trust
33:14
to be rebuilt and for audiences to feel comfortable coming
33:17
there again. Next appointee wants to replace White House columns
33:23
with the ones Trump prefers. The head of a federal
33:27
arts commission is proposing the more ornate Corinthian style for
33:30
the nearly two hundred year old columns at the building's
33:33
front entrance, by Dan Diamond and Ernst Eckelberg. For nearly
33:40
two centuries, the White House's main entrance, framed by a
33:44
row of graceful ionic columns, has been a signature image
33:47
of the seat of American power. Now, the Trump appointed
33:52
head of a federal arts commission is proposing to replace
33:55
them with a more ornate style favored by President Donald Trump.
34:00
These more decorative columns, a style known as Corinthian, are
34:03
considered the most luxurious in classical architecture and ampeer on
34:07
buildings such as the US Capital and the Supreme Court.
34:11
They have long been deployed on Trump's properties, and the
34:14
President has hand picked them for his planned White House
34:17
ballroom too. Corinthian is the highest order of column and
34:23
that's what our other two branches of government have. Rodney
34:26
Mims Cook Junior, the Trump appointee who chairs the Commission
34:29
of Fine Arts, a federal panel charged with advising the
34:32
President on design matters, said in an interview last week.
34:37
Why the White House didn't originally use them, at least
34:39
on the north front, which is considered the front door,
34:42
is beyond me. A White House spokesperson told The Washington
34:48
Post that while Trump prefers Corinthian columns in new construction,
34:52
there are no plans to change the existing ionic columns
34:55
outside the White House. Cook said he had yet to
34:58
discuss the idea directly with the p but Cook's proposal
35:02
to overhaul the front entrance to the White House, known
35:05
as the North Portico, reflects a common dynamic in Trump's Washington,
35:10
where the president's deputies and allies often anticipate and implement
35:13
his desires, and frequently upend decades of tradition and norms
35:18
in the process. Some of Cook's allies have cheered his idea.
35:23
Historic buildings as important as the White House is. Nevertheless,
35:28
they changed through time, said Richard Cameron, a longtime colleague
35:31
who has pushed to redesign New York's Penn Station. Many
35:36
other architects and designers say they're baffled or even horrified
35:39
by Cook's proposal. The Corinthian would be inappropriate for the
35:44
executive residence, said Stephen Seams, a professor emeritus of architecture
35:49
at the University of Notre Dame and an expert in
35:52
classical architecture, warning that it would harm the original design
35:56
of a building long known as the People's House. He
36:00
added that the White House's ionic columns evoked the character
36:04
of dignity, grace, and a kind of intimacy or domesticity,
36:08
whereas Corinthian columns are used to express the height of
36:11
formality and monumentality for buildings such as the Capital. Several
36:18
former federal Arts commissions expressed similar concerns, adding that any
36:22
change to the Executive Mansion should go through a formal
36:26
review process. It is a completely inappropriate idea and at
36:30
odds with universally held historic preservation standards, said Bruce Redmond Becker,
36:36
an architect and Biden appointee to the Commission of Fine
36:39
Arts who was removed by Trump last year. James Hoban,
36:44
the White House's original architect, designed the north partico and
36:48
its current columns, his final touch on the building, completed
36:52
in eighteen thirty. The White House Historical Association, a nonprofit
36:58
that focuses on educating the public about the residence's history,
37:01
has called the columns iconic and a key part of
37:04
Hoban's vision. Few elements have so inspired American architecture. Stuart maclaurin,
37:11
the White House Historical Association's president, wrote about the North
37:15
Pertico in a twenty twenty one biography of Hoban. Trump
37:20
has long preferred Corinthian columns, which graced one of his
37:23
childhood homes and stretched floor to ceiling in his Trump
37:27
Tower apartment in New York. The President has mused about
37:30
constructing Corinthian columns for new government buildings and potentially using
37:35
them at the White House mansion, according to two people
37:38
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the
37:41
discuss the president's private remarks. For design experts such as Seems,
37:47
who has spent more than four decades teaching and writing
37:50
about classical architecture, the distinction between the columns is clear
37:54
and unmistakable, providing subtle or even overt visual cues that
37:58
can change a building's case character. Ionic columns are known
38:03
for their slender design and curve a linear ornamentation. He said.
38:08
They also have a smaller capital, the decorative part between
38:11
the shaft of the column and the beams above, compared
38:14
with Corinthian columns, which have capitals that can be twice
38:17
as tall as the Ionic columns and are offered often
38:21
decorated with leaves and The column styles originate in Greek
38:25
architecture along with other columns such as doric, and are
38:29
known as different architectural orders. The orders are like the
38:33
scales in music or like characters in a play, said Seems,
38:37
comparing the muscular Doric column to a soldier, the dignified
38:41
ionic columns to a mature woman, and the showy Corinthian
38:45
column to a younger maiden. They are not just the
38:49
columns in their capitals, but are systems of proportion and
38:52
ornament that infuse the entire building. Shillambarinets, the lead architect
38:58
on the White House Ballroom, has said that Trump hand
39:01
picked Corinthian columns on the ballroom project, now under construction
39:05
next to the mansion. Asked whether he had spoken with
39:09
Trump about using Corinthian columns on other White House projects,
39:13
Baronets declined to declined to comment. Cook, who publicly proposed
39:19
changing the White House columns in a meeting last month
39:21
as he voted to approve Trump's ballroom, said he was
39:25
conscious of the discrepancy between the ballrooms planned Corinthian columns
39:29
and the White House mansion's ionic columns. We should have
39:33
some consistency between the two buildings, he said. Outside architects
39:38
took a different view. Having buildings with two different classical
39:43
orders next to each other, isn't that unusual? Said Matthew Bell,
39:46
a University of Maryland architecture professor, Arguing to keep the
39:51
mansion's ionic columns, whether they were correct or not in
39:55
terms of their usage. That's what Hobon put on the building.
40:00
Carl Elifante, a past president of the American Institute of
40:04
Architects and a critic of the ball room, which he
40:06
compared to a camel or a horse designed by a committee,
40:10
said he was troubled to think that it could reshape
40:13
the White House too. Why are we going to take
40:17
the abomination of this ungainly design and start to effect
40:20
the actual White House itself rather than the other way around,
40:23
Elefante said. Trump has repeatedly run a foul of architects
40:29
and preservationists as he has steadily remade the White House
40:33
and its grounds in his second term. He rapidly demolished
40:37
the White House's East Wing annex last year to build
40:41
his planned four hundred million dollar ball room, after initially
40:45
saying he would not touch it, paved over the Rose
40:48
garden to make room for a patio, imposed his vision
40:51
on numerous internal fixtures and rooms, including the Lincoln Bathroom,
40:56
and is redesigning Lafayette Square, the park outside the mansion.
41:01
Some of those changes have drawn complaints in lawsuits, but Trump,
41:05
a long time real estate magnet, before entering politics, has
41:09
defended them as overdue upgrades. We're improving the building, Trump
41:14
said at a Medal of Honor ceremony earlier this month,
41:17
touting the ballroom and other changes to the White House.
41:22
John Odiambo Anyango, the chairman of Howard University's architecture program
41:27
and a longtime colleague of Cook, said that switching to
41:30
Corinthian columns could be an improvement and not a particularly
41:34
disruptive one. It's not fundamentally making a big change, such
41:39
as proposing a postmodern style addition to the White House.
41:42
Anyango said, it's actually in keeping with the historical character
41:46
of the building. Cook also rejected the suggestion that the
41:51
White House should not have the most ornate columns because
41:53
it is a home rather than a building open to
41:56
the public like the Capitol. That argument falls pretty flat,
42:00
he said. It's not a private home, it's a public building.
42:04
It's a government home for our executive. He invoked the
42:07
Roman Colosseum, which ascends from using Doric columns on the
42:11
first level to Ionic on the second and Corinthian on
42:14
the third, as an example of how Corinthian columns are
42:18
considered the highest order. It's just the rules, he said.
42:23
Cook said he was not proposing to change the ionic
42:26
columns in the white houses, South Portico or the pilasters,
42:30
a type of smaller column elsewhere on campus. He said
42:34
that only the capitals the tops of ionic columns could
42:37
be replaced with the Corinthian style. Seems dismissed the idea
42:42
of changing the tops of the existing columns, saying that
42:45
trying to modify just part of the structure would add
42:48
new complications. It's like surgically adding or removing a couple
42:53
of inches to one of your legs thinking that you
42:55
could still walk, he said, it becomes a very different animal,
42:59
and it becomes a completely absurd animal. For our next article,
43:07
new dime to celebrate America's birthday takes on new meaning
43:11
under Trump. The design commemorating the nation's two hundred fiftieth
43:15
anniversary was recommended to the Treasury Secretary in twenty twenty four.
43:20
Critics have criticized its lack of olive branches. By Megan Vasquez,
43:28
a temporarily new issued dime that commemorates America's two hundred
43:32
fiftieth anniversary is drawing criticism for its lack of olive
43:35
branches a symbol of peace. Instead. The back of the
43:40
dime showcases the Great Seal of the United States, featuring
43:44
a bald eagle, but its clutching only arrows, a symbol
43:47
of war, and lacks the traditional olive branch in its
43:50
other talon. The design for the reimagined commemorative dime took
43:55
shape months before President Donald Trump was re elected and
43:59
was intended as a nun to the revolutionary war that
44:01
created the nation, not modern times. But the dime started
44:06
going into circulation the same week that Trump seized Venezuelan
44:09
strongman Nicholas Maduro. In early January, as the US and
44:14
Israel's war on Iran heats up, critics are pointing to
44:17
the redesigned dime as the newest symbol of a more
44:20
aggressive kind of nationalism championed by the Trump administration. Fortune
44:26
this Week said the omission of the olive branch was
44:29
hard to read as accidental and questioned what the illustration
44:33
meant for the country. On social media, users questioned whether
44:38
the new design was a parody and read it. Users
44:41
questioned the move over dozens of threads with tens of
44:43
thousands of up votes. One critic suggested on TikTok that
44:48
the redesign had defended Secretary Pete Hegsath written all over it.
44:52
The Washington Post found no evidence that Hegxath was involved
44:56
in the redesign. The design on the back back of
45:00
the design of the back of the new dime, unveiled
45:03
in December, depicts an eagle with an empty right talon
45:07
clutching arrows in its left claw, inscribed with the phrase
45:11
liberty over tyranny on its front. The dime illustrates a
45:15
determined liberty as the winds of revolution waffed through her hair.
45:20
According to the U. S Mint material explaining the change,
45:25
The new dime is part of a broader set of
45:27
redesigned coins circulating this year to celebrate America's Semequin centennial.
45:33
The final design of the coin was one of several
45:35
illustrations reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee in twenty
45:39
twenty four. That October, right before Trump would be elected
45:44
for second presidential term. The impartial Federal Advisory Committee recommended
45:49
the design to the Treasury Secretary. U S MINT Deputy
45:55
Director Christy McNelly has said that Treasury Secretary Scott Besson
46:00
got the final knot on design approval for the coins.
46:04
A request for comment from the Treasury Department was not returned.
46:09
The medallic artist behind it, Eric David Custer, told the
46:13
news publication Spotlight Pennsylvania in February that his design was
46:18
inspired by the Great Seal of the United States in
46:22
seventeen eighty two. Charles Thompson, who presented the final design
46:26
of the Great Seal to Congress, explained that the olive
46:29
branch and arrows denote the peace the power of peace
46:33
and war, which is exclusively vested in Congress. Custer, who
46:38
has worked for the US Mint since two thousand eight,
46:41
told Spotlight Pennsylvania that his new design represents the colonists
46:45
before and during the American Revolution. He said he omitted
46:50
the olive branch to show that the colonies had not
46:53
yet reached peace, but a talent remained empty to show
46:56
that they were waiting for it. McNally's said in a
47:00
statement that the designs, which also include new illustrations on
47:04
the quarter nickel and half dollar, depict the story of
47:07
America's journey toward a more perfect union and celebrate America's
47:12
defining ideals of liberty. Frank L. Holt, an emeritus professor
47:17
of history at the University of Houston, said in an
47:21
email that the New Dime's ambiguous messaging condemns the whole design.
47:26
The design of the New Dime long pre dates Operation
47:29
Epic Fury and only accentuates how easily a poor design
47:33
can be misinterpreted or misappropriated, said Holt, who has studied
47:37
the history of coins, referring to the US and Israeli
47:40
military campaign against Iran money talks. But it should speak
47:45
plainly and with clear purpose. The Trump administration has garnered
47:51
criticism for signaling a more aggressive stance on war, with
47:55
Trump espousing what he has called America First foreign policy
47:59
and rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
48:04
The Trump administration has taken other steps to influence coin designs.
48:08
In December, Fox News reported that Bessant axed Biden era
48:13
designed quarters intended to celebrate America's semequin C centennial after
48:17
discovering the illustrations depicted what could be interpreted as themes
48:21
of diversity, equity, and inclusion DEI. Last fall, U S
48:26
Treasurer Brandon Beach confirmed that the agency had drafted one
48:30
dollar coins with Trump's face on them to commemorate the
48:33
Semiquin centennial. Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat from Oregon, introduced a
48:40
bill last year to prevent any living or sitting president
48:43
from being featured on any US currency, said in a
48:47
statement that the changes to currency design are part of
48:50
a broader symbolic effort by Trump. President Trump is removing
48:55
national symbols from currency, including the olive branch as a
48:59
symbol of peace, while simultaneously attempting to add his face
49:03
to the upcoming one dollar coin in celebration of the
49:06
Semequin centennial. Merkley wrote, Trump's symbolism and intentions are clear.
49:13
Erase our nation's history, remove symbols of peace, and align
49:17
this important date with how authoritarians celebrate themselves around the world.
49:23
The Trump administration has also drawn scrutiny for the large
49:26
banners hung over federal buildings in Washington commemorating America's two
49:31
hundred fiftieth anniversary. Critics have argued that the administration is
49:36
deploying ideological symbolism with the large banners featuring Trump, past presidents,
49:42
historical figures, and conservative activists. Specifically, a banner of Trump
49:48
hung up of the Justice Department building in Washington last month,
49:52
has drawn the ire of those who suggested it exemplifies
49:55
the president's encroachment on the agency. The U. S. Mint
49:59
for US first made dimes in seventeen ninety six. Beginning
50:03
in nineteen forty six, soon after the death of President
50:07
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Mint released a dime to honor
50:10
his birthday. The front of the Roosevelt dime shows the
50:14
former president in profile. The U. S. Mint describes the
50:18
rear of the Roosevelt coin as showing a torch, olive
50:21
branch and oak branch to represent liberty, peace and strength.
50:27
The U. S. Mint says that in twenty twenty seven,
50:31
the dime will return immediately to its previous design featuring Roosevelt.
50:36
For our next article, kids in hospital help penguins woo
50:40
mates with painted pebbles. I always get really emotional when
50:44
the pebbles go in, said Rebecca Parr, who works for
50:47
the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. By Kyle Melnik, the
50:54
penguins crowded around a green whale barrel, eager to see
50:57
what was making the clattering noise inside. Moments later, more
51:02
than one thousand colorful pebbles dropped onto their habitat's pavement.
51:07
Each pebble was hand painted with a design from flowers
51:10
and rainbows to logos for Spider Man and Scottish soccer teams.
51:15
Dozens of penguins waddled to the pile in search of
51:18
the perfect pebbles they would use to build nests and
51:21
woo potential partners. Patients at a nearby children's hospital designed
51:26
and painted the pebbles for Gentoo penguins breeding season at
51:30
Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo. Children's children watch on a live stream
51:35
as penguins pick out pebbles, drop them into their nests
51:39
and bow to their partners as a form of courtship.
51:43
The annual event is a boost for the children as
51:45
well as the zoo's more than one hundred Gentowo penguins.
51:50
I always get really emotional when the pebbles go in
51:53
because it's just the accumulation of a month's worth of
51:55
hard work for the children, said Rebecca par community and
51:59
discuss officer for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which
52:03
owns the zoo. Zoo workers have visited the Royal Hospital
52:08
for Children and Young People in Edinburgh since twenty twenty two.
52:12
In hopes of connecting patients to nature, patients have designed
52:16
items such as food and water containers for zoo keepers
52:19
to place in animal habitats. While patients create the designs,
52:23
par helps them relate to the animals by showing photos
52:26
of animals undergoing medical procedures, including a polar bear getting
52:30
blood drawn, a marsupial called a ground cuscas having a
52:34
seat scan, penguins receiving injections, and a baby red panda
52:40
getting checked with a stethoscope. The zoo for several years
52:44
has invited visitors to decorate pebbles for penguins. In twenty
52:49
twenty three, Parr showed up at the hospital with a
52:51
load of pebbles from a home improvement store, along with
52:54
pens with water based paint that she set are safe
52:57
for Penguinsations decorated fifty four pebbles the first year, but
53:03
it has become so popular the number has grown each year.
53:07
This winter they decorated one thousand to twenty pebbles and out.
53:10
Patients can sometimes schedule appointments the same day par visits
53:14
just so they can paint. I truly could not have
53:18
expected something as big to come from something as simple
53:21
as giving a penguin a pebble, Parr said. At the zoo,
53:27
gen two penguins begin building nests in February, after staff
53:31
members assemble about fifty nest rings and provide thousands of
53:34
undecorated pebbles. In their habitat, many penguins court the same
53:38
mate each breeding season. One closely watched couple, Muffin and Mittens,
53:43
is a crowd favorite. The nests keep penguins eggs dry
53:48
and insulated from the cold. They also allow males to
53:51
show off and court partners. Females are attracted to larger
53:55
nests with more pebbles because they give their eggs a
53:58
better chance of survival. Once a pair is formed, both
54:02
the male and female collect pebbles. Patients painted the pebbles
54:07
this winter with designs including hearts, trees, houses, caterpillars, penguins,
54:13
and even an engagement ring. Some designed pebbles for their
54:17
preferred penguins. One patient painted a muffin on a half
54:22
dozen pebbles in hopes that Muffin the penguin would select one.
54:26
The pebbles were a hit. Penguins squabbled over them. When
54:29
a patient and a zookeeper unloaded them into the habitat.
54:32
On March sixth, patients watched with excitement on a live
54:37
stream as a penguin named buzz snatched a pebble with
54:40
a Bumblebee design and dropped it beside his partner, whose
54:43
name is Bumblebee. They hoped their pebbles would be plucked
54:47
by some of the standout penguins, including Birdie, a ladies
54:50
man who stirred drama by courting two females, and Kevin,
54:54
a prankster who sometimes steals a hose from zookeepers. Some
54:59
penguins seem drawn to bright colored pebbles, par said, but
55:04
gent penguin's priority is to collect as many pebbles as possible,
55:09
said Michael Polito, associate professor of ocean science at the
55:12
University of California at Santa Cruz. Penguins tend to be
55:17
more interested in the quantity of pebbles than they are
55:20
in the quality of any one pebble, he said. The
55:24
zoo said each of its penguins' nests contains about five
55:28
hundred pebbles. Penguins sometimes steal pebbles from each other's nests,
55:32
then chase each other to get them back. When they
55:35
lay their eggs in April, males and females take turns
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sitting on them and incubating them. At the zoo, there
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are some same sex couples that are given eggs to
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incubate by staff members who take them from other nests
55:47
when the eggs are in danger. For example, a penguin
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named mister Christmas sometimes falls on eggs and sits on
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them incorrectly, so zoo keepers take eggs from him and
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give them to a same sex couple to incubate, then
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place in fertile eggs in mister Christmas' nest. The eggs
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hatch in May. When Parr asks hospital patients to name
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the chicks, they already have some suggestions this year, such
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as truffle for Muffin and Mitten's. Baby chicks typically leave
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the nest when they're between three and four months old
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to join a crash, a group of young penguins who
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learn key skills such as swimming and socializing. They can
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start breeding a few years later, when they'll begin selecting
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their own favorite pebbles from fresh batches. This concludes the
56:38
reading of the Washington Post for Today, Monday, March sixteenth,
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twenty twenty six. Your reader for today has been Greta.
56:46
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program,
56:50
please feel free to call us at eight five nine
56:54
four two two six three nine zero. Thank you for listening,
56:58
and now please stay tuned for continued programming here on
57:02
Radio I