Trump Assumes Kennedy Center Chairmanship, Ousts Longtime President

In the latest effort to put President Donald Trump’s stamp on the Kennedy Center, the board of trustees on Wednesday fired its longtime president Deborah Rutter, according to two people familiar with the matter, and added several Trump-linked trustees.

Trump dialed into the board meeting Wednesday and welcomed everybody, telling board members that the center had “become too woke,” according to one of the people. The group also elected longtime Trump ally Ric Grenell as Rutter’s interim replacement.

Some board members were flabbergasted by the firing since they have long viewed the board as nonpartisan and free from political interference, according to the two people, who were both granted anonymity to discuss the call without retribution.

“Deborah has done a remarkable job at the Kennedy Center, so it was very disheartening to see her summarily dismissed in the way that she was dismissed,” said one of the people.

“This has been so surreal and so sudden and so unexpected,” said the other. “I’m in a state of shock and I pray that everyone that is new and in charge and on the board will treat it like the gem like it is.”

New trustees include Second Lady Usha Vance, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, according to a press release from the Center.

Trump had previewed the move when he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday that “Ric shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture, and will be overseeing the daily operations of the Center” and that the center would not put on “drag shows, or other anti-American propaganda.”

“The goal of the Kennedy Center has been to live up to our namesake, serving as a beacon for the world and ensuring our work reflects America,” Rutter said in a statement. “I depart my position proud of all we accomplished to meet that ambition. From the art on our stages to the students we have impacted in classrooms across America, everything we have done at the Kennedy Center has been about uplifting the human spirit in service of strengthening the culture of our great nation.“

Grenell didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Asked for comment, a White House spokesperson referred POLITICO to Trump’s Truth Social post in which he announced he had been unanimously elected chair of the board. “It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees,” he wrote. “We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”

Longtime Washington lawyer Robert Barnett on Wednesday also resigned as senior counsel to the board and the Center after serving for more than 20 years, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Barnett declined to comment.