<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump for his attempts to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after himself, suggesting that the White House should focus on more significant issues.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Clinton made these remarks during a speech at the opening of the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York. The debate over the renaming has been ongoing for several months, with Trump recently indicating the possibility of demolishing the Kennedy Center instead of using congressional funds for renovations, following court decisions that prevented him from renaming the cultural institution in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I personally think that the way we’ve argued about what’s going on at the Kennedy Center and all that kind of stuff — I think we’ve been majoring in the minors,” Clinton stated.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He added, “Over the course of a lifetime, there are only so many real opportunities to make decisions that we know will shape our personal history and the history of those we live with and care about for a long time to come. This is one of those moments. You really think 100 years from now anybody’s going to care very much about whose name’s on what building?… Isn’t it more important what happens in the building? And what happens outside the building?”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Clinton also commented on Trump’s recent announcement regarding a proposed triumphal arch in Washington, which is planned to be used as a military complex. Trump revealed that the monument would be equipped for military operations, including the storage of weapons and the deployment of drones.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Clinton remarked, “Some of this stuff, it’s hard to make up,” while humorously critiquing the development.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“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,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Clinton’s comments came as Trump was also in New York, where he delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. In his address, Trump discussed the option of “annihilating” Iran if it did not agree to a peace deal, defended artificial intelligence against proposed global regulations, and criticized the UN for promoting what he described as a far-left agenda.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We inherited a dark age of America from the previous administration, and we turned it into the golden age of America. The entire world is being lifted by the wealth, strength, spirit, and momentum of a newly energized and a very powerful United States of America,” Trump stated.</p>