Opinion: President Trump seeks to co-opt the Kennedy mystique

The powerful mystique associated with John F. Kennedy‘s vibrant presidential administration of the early 60’s continues to linger in many American minds. The JFK White House, symbolized by youthful vigor, charisma, good looks, and bold goals like putting a man on the moon, still projects an appealing image of some golden age. One can see how an American politician might want to borrow from or associate with that mystique to shape their own reputation.

This mystique helps explain some of President Donald Trump’s more interesting moves since winning the 2024 election. Trump has gone out of his way to pursue a connection with this Kennedy mystique. In fact, he is even going so far as to start a unique “race to the moon” reminiscent of the previous one between our country and the Soviet Union.

Of course, in true Trump fashion, this connection to the Kennedy years is not necessarily a straight line pursuit — in fact, it consists of twists and turns, along with contradictions and digressions, much like the weaving diatribes he so famously delivers. Based on this confusing trajectory, we can only hope for the good of this country, that the pursuit ends with a happy ending.   

Trump’s attempt to appeal to the lingering Kennedy mystique started with the hiring of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In spite of RFK Jr.’s many loony ideas, Trump hoped that some life-long Democrats could be swayed by employing a Kennedy family member (even a black sheep one) in his administration. The Kennedy reputation combined with the new Secretary of Health and Human Services’ MAGA-like love of government conspiracies was too much for Trump to pass up.

Appealing to a powerful Kennedy–MAGA government conspiracy combination can also be seen in Trump’s decision to release all of the government’s remaining Kennedy assassination files. Outside of UFO conspiracies, the mystery of possible government involvement in the murder of a popular president is the greatest of all conspiracy stories. Providing public access to these files is the equivalent of offering free beer to a party full of drunken frat boys. In this sense, Trump took his action in the hopes of receiving the eternal gratitude of conspiracy lovers around the country.

However, Trump’s attempt to link himself to the Kennedy mystique has not been a consistent one. For example, his recent move to pave over the lawn that makes up part of the historic White House Rose Garden in favor of a patio that can be used more efficiently for press conferences was not appreciated by Kennedy fans.

Since the Rose Garden was redesigned on orders from JFK with plans guided by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, the site has long symbolized the stylistic grace of that administration. Needless to say, style and grace are not attributes normally associated with the “I want everything huge and gold-plated” Donald Trump. 

And his attempt to change the type of entertainment offered at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, while making himself chairman of the center’s board of trustees, is an exercise in liberal intellectual elitism bashing. JFK and his wife brought a touch of entertainment class and culture to the White House. Trump now wants the Kennedy Center imprimatur to bestow class on entertainers like KISS and Sylvester Stallone.    

Trump’s latest effort to co-opt the Kennedy magic is his reinstatement of the old Presidential Fitness Test — a test for school-age kids originally made popular by the JFK administration.  Perhaps Trump sees this as a way of cleverly recapturing the sense of youthful vigor and athleticism expressed by the Kennedy era.

But the JFK mythmaking machine did so by also having photographers frequently catch his large family clan playing football at the Hyannis Port compound. No way any photographer is ever going to capture Trump playing a game of football, so the new Presidential Fitness Test allows the current president to radiate vigor and athleticism while still conducting his exercise atop the ever-present golf cart.

Finally, the most significant attempt to associate with the Kennedy administration may involve re-starting a race to the moon, one of the most memorable of all Kennedy-era legacies. In today’s case, the race involves being the first country to establish a nuclear reactor on the lunar surface by 2030. The Russians and Chinese are thinking the same thing, currently aiming to get there by the mid-2030s.

Why a nuclear reactor? According to Sean Duffy, acting director of NASA, a nuclear reactor is necessary to “support a future lunar economy, high power energy generation on Mars, and to strengthen our national security in space.” Duffy claims, in spite of many legal questions, that the first country to place a nuclear energy source on the moon “could declare a keep-out zone,” preventing other countries from doing the same.

However, a note of caution needs to be expressed. This dramatic superpower space race, and the confrontation inherent in eventually adopting a nuclear reactor “keep-out zone” might result in a success rivaling JFK’s leadership during the Cuban Missile or Berlin Wall crises, or produce the equivalent of the Bay of Pigs debacle. Like Kennedy, Trump could end up giving an inspirational “Ich bin ein moon man” speech or have to deliver more somber words like “Success has a hundred fathers, but no way I’m taking the blame for hiring a bunch of anti-Castro mercenaries who failed to take over a Chinese lunar nuclear reactor.”

In the meantime, don’t be surprised if Trump soon renames the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the “Donald and Kennedy Big Beautiful Resort,” or begins referring to Greenland as the New Frontier, or maybe even Camelot.

Steve Rodriguez is a retired Marine Corps officer and high school teacher who last taught at Olympian High School in Chula Vista.