Jonathan Edwards

@washingtonpost Arts & Gov reporter covering Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, etc. @LivingstonAward finalist. Email: [email protected]. Signal: jle.11

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

Excited to announce I'm the new arts and government reporter at @washingtonpost covering the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, etc — and how the Trump administration is reshaping those institutions to rewrite the American story. Tips welcome: Signal jle.11

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

More than half of Trump's White House ballroom donors have won $50B in new federal contracts since donating to the project, per @Public_Citizen. Many are also facing federal enforcement actions — or have had those actions suspended by the administration.
https://t.co/8ZMtxRIs4Q

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

The National Symphony Orchestra has no approved budget — and its season may depend on whether Trump acts as Kennedy Center chair

"They're sitting in a really helpless position," said Ben Folds, who quit as an NSO artistic adviser after Trump took over.
https://t.co/5J3wwwiAHF

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

The Kennedy Center has ordered staff to remove President Trump's name from the venue — immediately from email signatures and letterhead, by June 12 from signs and the website.

https://t.co/F2RnRKE8cn

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

BREAKING: A federal judge Friday ordered that President Donald Trump’s name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and that officials halt its plan to close the venue for two years.
https://t.co/a8qzlsJLMl

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

Bunch was blunt about the prospect of White House interference.

“Nobody has told us what to do,” he said, “and to be honest, I won't let anybody tell us what to do.”

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

The Smithsonian is opening an America 250 exhibit on the country's complicated past — co-curated by its own leader, Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III — even as the White House pressures the institution to tell a more flattering version of American history.
https://t.co/0a7AxRhM7W

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

The exhibition opens at a delicate juncture for the institution. Since Trump’s return to office last year, the White House has subjected the Smithsonian to an escalating series of demands: a sweeping executive order calling for the removal of “improper ideology” from its museums, the departure of a museum director under presidential pressure, a formal content review and a threat to withhold federal funds if the Smithsonian didn’t comply. Earlier this year, the Portrait Gallery quietly removed wall text mentioning Trump’s impeachments before restoring reference to them this month.

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

A decade-plus of bipartisan work to build a Smithsonian women's history museum on the Mall is dead — at least for the moment — killed by a Republican amendment adding anti-trans language and handing Trump control over the site

https://t.co/j0nb7u6Y8Z

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

Arlington Memorial Bridge was built soon after. The columns never were.

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

Leading up to today's Commission of Fine Arts approval of the Triumphal Arch project, @ddiamond had a great scoop yesterday about the White House's plans to build the arch without seeking congressional approval, which is required by law.

https://t.co/QJYA84W5t6

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

In 1925, Congress ratified a report by a federal commission charged with designing Arlington Memorial Bridge. That report called for building a pair of 166-foot-tall columns, surmounted by statues, on Columbia Island that would frame the nearby Lincoln Memorial.

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

Today's vote was supposed to be on conceptual approval, which would require project planners to come back for final approval.

Chairman Rodney Mims Cook Jr. unexpectedly muscled the project through final approval.

His verdict: "This is a very elegant building."

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

Breaking: Trump's 250-foot triumphal arch just cleared a key hurdle: A federal arts commission packed w his allies approved it over public complaints it's too big and detracts from the solemnity of Arlington National Cemetery.

w @ddiamond

[Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports]

Scoop: Inside look at unusual government contracting maneuvers re: the Triumphal Arch to "align with the Administration’s timeline" as Trump tries to leave his physical mark on the nation's capital.

From @Blaskey_S and @jocwapo
https://t.co/LFtbXURATh