A Day, and a Nation, at the Kennedy Center

WATCHING THE DISMANTLING of the Kennedy Center from my new hometown in Dallas called to mind the old saying about going broke, how it happens slowly and then all at once. Early into his second term, you got the sense that President Donald J. Trump was unlikely to remain hands-off this time around. But it’s still kind of shocking how quickly things spiraled out of control.

First came the decision in February 2025 (announced via Truth Social, naturally) to fire Kennedy Center1 president Deborah Rutter, whom he accused of mismanagement of the venue and, worse, allowing too much “woke” programming. He then purged the board, and its new members elected him board chair. Then he installed a factotum in the form of former ambassador Richard Grenell as head of the organization. These moves provoked a backlash from the artists who were scheduled to perform at the center: Issa Rae canceled a sold-out show; the touring company of Hamilton bailed on its scheduled 2026 run; and, more recently, Philip Glass withdrew a symphony composed to celebrate the life of Abraham Lincoln that had been commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, which has used the Kennedy Center as its main venue since the center opened 1971, and as its headquarters since 1986.

Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center’s other major resident, the Washington National Opera—which also has been there since the beginning—announced in January that it was leaving the center altogether, a decision made all the more shocking by the fact that there simply aren’t many suitable replacement venues in the Washington, D.C. region. The Kennedy Center is the natural home for the opera company, yet a bizarre diktat from the new Trumpified leadership requiring every show be funded fully in advance isn’t compatible with the economics of the opera business.

Not helping relations with artists is Trump’s insistence on turning himself into the star of the show. While it’s unsurprising that the failed Broadway producer believes himself to be the cure for all the Kennedy Center’s woes, illegally slapping his name on the building was hardly an act calculated to ease tensions with artists who do not want to feel as though their work is being used to endorse a man whose policies