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Sunday, February 23, 2025

Trump Elected Chairman of Kennedy Center Amid Leadership Overhaul

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President Donald Trump was elected Kennedy Middle chair because the board replaces management, marking a serious shift on the Washington arts establishment.

President Donald Trump has been elected chairman of the John F. Kennedy Middle for the Performing Arts by its newly constituted board of trustees, marking a sweeping management shakeup on the Washington-based arts establishment.

Trump, who has criticized the middle for selling what he referred to as “anti-American propaganda,” has vowed to realign it together with his “imaginative and prescient for a Golden Age of American Arts and Tradition.”

“It’s a Nice Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Middle, particularly with this superb Board of Trustees,” Trump wrote in a submit on Fact Social after the Feb. 12 vote. “We are going to make The Kennedy Middle a really particular and thrilling place!”
Trump replaces David Rubenstein, billionaire philanthropist and co-founder of the worldwide funding firm The Carlyle Group, as chair of the Kennedy Middle. Trump lately described the middle as an “American Jewel” that had been tarnished by internet hosting drag exhibits and different packages he deemed counter to conventional American values. Final week, Trump introduced he was planning to exchange a number of board members and would identify himself chair.

The middle’s board consists of each presidential appointees and ex-officio members designated by Congress, resembling Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.), and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.

As a part of the management overhaul, the board terminated the contract of Kennedy Middle President Deborah Rutter, who had beforehand introduced plans to step down on the finish of 2025, and appointed Richard Grenell as interim president.
In a press release to NPR, Rutter mirrored on her tenure and the middle’s position in fostering inventive expression as a pillar of democracy.

“Very similar to our democracy itself, inventive expression have to be nurtured, fostered, prioritized, and guarded,” Rutter mentioned. “It’s not a passive endeavor; certainly, there is no such thing as a clearer signal of American democracy at work than our artists, the work they produce, and audiences’ unalienable proper to actively take part.”

Grenell, the interim president, raised considerations in regards to the Kennedy Middle’s monetary well being, stating that his preliminary briefing painted a dire image.

I used to be briefed at present by the CFO of the Kennedy Middle on its monetary scenario,“ Grenell wrote in a submit on social media. ”She informed me there’s ZERO money readily available. And ZERO in reserves. And the deferred upkeep is a disaster. For the previous months they’ve been digging into the DEBT RESERVES. We should repair this nice establishment. The folks working exhausting on the Nation’s premier performing arts middle deserve higher—and so do all Individuals.”

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Along with Trump, over a dozen new board members have been appointed, together with Second Girl Usha Vance, White Home Chief of Employees Susie Wiles, White Home Deputy Chief of Employees Dan Scavino, and Allison Lutnick, the spouse of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

A number of high-profile people have stepped down from their positions in response to the management shakeup.

Nationwide Symphony Orchestra inventive advisor Ben Folds cited “developments on the Kennedy Middle” in his resignation assertion, saying “Not for me.”
Renée Fleming, an inventive advisor-at-large, praised Rubenstein as “the best patriot I do know” and referred to as Rutter “a tireless, inventive chief.”

“They’ve each been an inspiration to me; and out of respect, I feel it proper to depart as effectively,” Fleming wrote. “I hope the Kennedy Middle continues to flourish and serve the passionate and various viewers in our nation’s capital and throughout the nation.”

The Kennedy Middle didn’t reply to a request for remark from The Epoch Instances by publication time.

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