Trump Names Loyalist Interim Leader of Kennedy Center as He Strengthens His Grip

The president also purged 18 board members appointed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who were scrubbed from an official roster on the center’s website, along with the chairman, David M. Rubenstein.


President Trump wants to make himself chairman of the Kennedy Center in Washington. Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Javier C. HernándezRobin Pogrebin and Shawn McCreesh
Feb. 10, 2025

President Trump announced in a post on social media Monday that he was appointing Richard Grenell as the “interim executive director” of the Kennedy Center in Washington. Mr. Grenell, who was Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration, is one of his most fiercely loyal apparatchiks. … The president wrote that Mr. Grenell “shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture” and would be overseeing “daily operations” to ensure there was no more “ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA.”

The appointment was just the latest in a series of moves designed to strengthen Mr. Trump’s grip on the performing arts center in Washington. … He kicked off a purge Friday night, when Mr. Trump announced his intent to gut the Kennedy Center’s board and install himself as chairman. He had denounced the center’s programming choices.

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On Monday, the Kennedy Center removed a statement from its website that it issued on Friday in the wake of Mr. Trump’s comments. … “Per the center’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the center’s board members,” the statement had said. “There is nothing in the center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board.”

The center has also in recent days scrubbed its site of references to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Mr. Trump has taken aim at such programs, issuing an executive order calling the initiatives “illegal and immoral.”

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Javier C. Hernández reports on classical music, opera and dance in New York City and beyond. More about Javier C. Hernández

Robin Pogrebin, who has been a reporter for The Times for nearly 30 years, covers arts and culture. More about Robin Pogrebin

Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration. More about Shawn McCreesh

See more on: U.S. Politics, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, David M Rubenstein, Donald Trump