Trump’s Name Could Save Kennedy Center From Collapse

Leaders of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have warned the Washington DC institution is close to bankruptcy and could be forced to shut as early as Tuesday, according to a report circulated to its board.

The centre’s leaders who were appointed by Donald Trump argued that adding the president’s name to the building’s facade may be the only remaining way to avert an imminent, “certain fiscal collapse”, the Washington Post reported, citing documents it obtained.

A trustees’ report prepared ahead of a board meeting scheduled for Tuesday said that, within weeks, the centre would be unable to pay staff or cover maintenance costs, the newspaper said. The 57-page internal document, sent to the board, also highlighted safety concerns linked to a maintenance backlog and recommended that the main building be closed immediately.

Leaders At The US Venue Say It Could Prevent Collapse

When asked by the Guardian to comment on the leaked documents, the Kennedy Center declined to address them directly or to comment before the board’s deliberations. It instead pointed to a statement it issued after part of the ceiling in the main hall collapsed on 4 September.

“Another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed,” Roma Daravi, the centre’s vice-president of public relations, said in that statement. She added that the structural failure followed “decades of neglect and deferred maintenance by the previous leadership”, and that there was “no justification for further delays” in restoring the venue.

Financial Turmoil After Leadership Changes

The Washington Post said Trump’s involvement, including the addition of his name to the facade, has disrupted fundraising and ticket sales. It described the trustees’ report as part of a “remarkable new phase” in Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, saying the institution has faced financial strain, leadership changes and litigation since he installed himself as chair in 2025.

The takeover began on 10 February 2025, when Trump dismissed 18 board members appointed under Joe Biden. Shortly afterwards, the remaining trustees, including many Trump allies, voted him in as chair. The board also removed Deborah Rutter, the centre’s president since 2014, who had planned to step down seven months later, and replaced her with Richard Grenell, a Trump ally from his first administration.

The shake-up triggered resignations and cancelled programming. Board treasurer Shonda Rhimes, National Symphony Orchestra artistic adviser Ben Folds and opera singer Renée Fleming resigned their posts, while actor Issa Rae pulled a sold-out show from the venue in protest. The Post said subscription sales fell by 36% by June 2025, and that ticket sales continued to soften into the autumn. A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the decline reflected broader trends in the Broadway industry, while the paper reported that sales had already been weakening soon after the takeover.

Grenell was later replaced as president in March by Matt Floca, previously the centre’s vice-president of facilities operations.

Name Dispute, Court Rulings and Funding Claims

The Post said that fundraising work could be damaged by the name issue and that Trump’s help would be contingent on acknowledging his involvement. It said the trustees’ report suggested Trump was withholding fundraising support until his name returned.

The centre’s spokesperson disputed that account, saying the facade addition instead attracted new donors and was “crucial” to fundraising.

A judge ruled in May that the addition of Trump’s name to the building’s facade was illegal and ordered it removed. Trump’s name was taken down in June after a judge rejected an emergency application to block the removal.

In August, the board voted again both to reinstate Trump’s name and to close the venue for a multiyear renovation, according to court filings.

The centre has also argued in litigation that hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations already pledged could have to be returned if the name were not restored, citing the institution’s bylaws. It later told a federal judge it would delay reinstating the name until at least 8 October, extending an earlier timetable by about a month.

In a separate dispute over the centre’s finances, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said it had historically run an operating deficit of around $100m a year. They said prior leadership left a bottom-line deficit of $26m and described the previous budget as “falsified”. The claim echoed allegations made by Grenell in 2025, when he said a new chief financial officer had found “$26m in phantom revenue” and called it “criminal”. Rutter and Rubenstein rejected the allegation at the time, with Rubenstein saying the centre’s financial reports had been reviewed and approved by the Kennedy Center’s audit committee, the full board and a major accounting firm.

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15 September 2026