Trump Fires Board Members of the Kennedy Center, Appoints Himself as Chairman

Image Courtesy of The Kennedy Center

By Jackson Russell

President Trump has found an “amazing chairman” for the Kennedy Arts Center, in Washington D.C., to implement the first steps of his agenda for American arts and culture. That person, coincidentally, is himself.

In the flurry of executive activity last weekend, Trump informally announced the termination of many members of the private institute’s board, including then current chairman and private equity mogul David M. Rubenstein. The new board, led by Trump, led the center which houses D.C.’s finest in performing arts. 

“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN…,” he claimed on Truth Social. “…For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”

In his statement, Mr. Trump also cited differences in “Vision” for the shakeup, and claimed the inclusion of “drag shows” at the venue was the reasoning behind his decision.

Trump later announced on Tuesday that he has also appointed Richard Grenell, Presidential Envoy for Special Missions and former acting Director of National Intelligence, as “Interim Executive Director” during the transition.

“Ric shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture and will be overseeing the daily operations of the Center,” he stated. 

It is still not clear which other board members have been affected as of last Friday’s announcement. According to sources with The Altantic, the 18 board members who were terminated likely include appointees added in former president Biden’s term, including Democratic political strategist Mike Donilon, former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and Democratic National Committee finance chair Chris Korge.

This shakeup comes after the announcement that Kennedy center board president, Deborah Rutter, would step down in leadership at the end of the year, with former chairman David Rubenstein to lead the organization through 2026. Now, with him gone, Trump and Grenell have nearly full reign over the board.

Concern with progressive art and culture is a major part of Trump’s agenda and past rhetoric. His concerns regarding the arts also coincide with Trump’s rapid dismantling of the Biden Administration’s diversity initiatives.

Under the last administration, the board was allowed to freely host multiple drag related performances. Performances included “Broadway Drag Brunch,” “Dancing Queens Drag Brunch”, and “A Drag Salute to Divas.” Records of these performances have since been removed from the center’s website.

It is uncertain how Trump will act as chairman for the Kennedy Center, and how it will affect the center’s programming. With his recent arts escapades, including the dismantling of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), it is likely that Trump will use his position to strictly monitor the organization’s role under threat of conservative backlash, or even defunding.

Former board president Deborah Rutter says that Trump oversight won’t be too negatively effective on the center. In an interview with The New York Times in late January, she claimed she plans to see no radical changes in the board’s policies and was looking forward to working with the Trump administration.

“Republicans don’t love the arts more or less than Democrats,” she said.

However, some other commentators are already sounding alarms about the change. Art critic Philip Kennicott, writing for The Washington Post, argues that the change of leadership at the Kennedy center, alongside a previous executive order aimed at supposed DEI practices by private organizations, reflects a claimed attempt by the federal government to stamp out any discussion of equity and inclusion in arts, or public discourse at all.

“If extended to the private sector, this could look a lot like the McCarthyism of the 1950s, or worse,” he stated, “And that would force cultural groups to make hard decisions about their basic values. We may already be at that point.”