Kennedy Center leaders say Trump’s name on facade may avoid ‘fiscal collapse’
Center’s Trump-installed leaders also say it is on brink of bankruptcy and could close as early as Tuesday Leaders of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts say it is on the brink of bankruptcy and could close as early as Tuesday, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. The center’s Donald Trump-installed leaders argued that putting the president’s name on its facade may be the...
Leaders of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts say it is on the brink of bankruptcy and could close as early as Tuesday, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
The center’s Donald Trump-installed leaders argued that putting the president’s name on its facade may be the only way to avoid imminent and “certain fiscal collapse”, according to the newspaper, citing documents it obtained.
The paper said a report, prepared by the Washington DC institution’s trustees, claimed that within a few weeks the institution won’t be able to pay employees or meet maintenance costs. The report was prepared in advance of a meeting that is scheduled for Tuesday. The 57-page internal document, circulated to the board ahead of the meeting, also flagged safety concerns tied to the building’s maintenance backlog and recommended that the main building be closed immediately.
The Post also said Trump will help the Kennedy Center if his involvement is acknowledged. The trustees’ report represents “a remarkable new phase in Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, which has been engulfed by financial turmoil, leadership upheaval and litigation since he installed himself as chairman” in February 2025, the paper said.
That takeover began on 10 February 2025, when Trump dismissed 18 board members appointed under Joe Biden. Days later, the remaining trustees – many of them recently installed Trump allies, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and second lady Usha Vance – voted him in as chair, breaking with decades of precedent under which sitting presidents had kept the institution at arm’s length. The board also fired Deborah Rutter, who had served as the center’s president since 2014 and already planned to step down seven months later, replacing her with Richard Grenell, a Trump ally from his first administration.
The shake-up prompted a wave of departures and cancellations. Board treasurer Shonda Rhimes, National Symphony Orchestra artistic adviser Ben Folds and opera singer Renée Fleming all resigned their positions, while actor Issa Rae pulled her sold-out show from the venue in protest. Subscription sales fell sharply over the following months, with the Post citing a 36% drop by June 2025, and ticket sales continued to soften into the autumn.
Grenell himself was replaced as president in March by Matt Floca, formerly the center’s vice-president of facilities operations, amid the continued upheaval.
The Post also noted that Trump’s involvement with the Kennedy Center, which included the addition of his name to the building, impaired fundraising work and ticket sales.
A judge in May ruled that the addition of Trump’s name to the center’s facade was illegal – and therefore it needed to be removed. Trump’s name was then removed in June after a judge rejected an emergency appeal blocking the removal.
In August, the board voted again to reinstate Trump’s name on the building and to close the venue for a multiyear renovation, according to court filings.
Separately, lawyers for the center have argued in litigation that hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations already pledged would have to be returned if Trump’s name were not restored to the facade, citing the institution’s bylaws. The board later told a federal judge it would hold off on adding the name until at least 8 October, a month’s delay on its earlier timetable.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters contributed reporting