President Trump said Friday that he is firing members of the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and naming himself chairman. The AP reports he also indicated that he would be dictating programming at one of the nation's premier cultural institutions, specifically declaring that he'd put an end to events featuring performers in drag. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social:
"At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture. We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!" Trump also suggested in his post that he would be implementing some changes to the center's performance schedule, noting that last year "the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP." According to its website, the center in July hosted a preshow titled "A Drag Salute to Divas" and a November "Drag Brunch."
In his post, Trump did not clarify which board of trustee members he would be terminating besides the current chairman, philanthropist David Rubenstein, who has been in the post since 2010 and planned to retire in late 2026. The 36-member board often features political powerbrokers and major donors, and is currently made up of members from both sides of the aisle. The current board features Biden's White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, as well as Mike Donilon, Biden's longtime ally, and Stephanie Cutter, a former Obama adviser. The treasurer of the center's board of trustees is television producer Shonda Rhimes, who hosted fundraisers for Biden before he abandoned his reelection bid last summer.
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But the current board also features Trump allies, including Pam Bondi, the new president's recently confirmed attorney general, and Lee Greenwood, whose song "God Bless the USA," was the unofficial anthem of Trump's presidential campaign. The New York Times reports the Kennedy Center confirmed some members had received termination notices. It had this to say: "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. 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." (More President Trump stories.)
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