Thirteen months was all it took to break down the Kennedy Center. News of Ric Grenell’s resignation—or, his “plans to leave his role,” as it were Axios to put it when breaking the story yesterday—suggests the end of the high period in which the Kennedy Center has continued to anger people, and the beginning of what fewer and fewer people are even seeing.
One clue to this new direction can be found in the apparent replacement of Grenell. President Trump announced on Social Reality that Matt Floca, vice president of the Kennedy Center, will lead the place. Floca began working at the agency during the Biden administration but became Trump’s repair buddy—someone Trump began calling regularly to get updates on all the changes he had ordered, such as redoing the seats in the opera house. according to New York Times.
The staff exchange comes nearly three months after the board of trustees was appointed by Trump they voted adding his name to the Kennedy Center, and more than a month since the president died ad that he plans to close the building for two years to renovate it. These were political shocks, and for some, they were also moral: Why was the president so concerned about the concert hall? What? was he trying to kill the National Symphony Orchestra? For a year, the face of these arguments was Grenell, who defended them loudly, especially on X.
One person with close knowledge of the center’s high-profile programming, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told me that Grenell’s departure “de-politicizes—not having a Kennedy Center person who is always talking on social media.” It made sense to this man that the construction expert would now be in charge. With the closure coming, “there won’t be much of a message from the Kennedy Center either way.” In other words, Trump is still fully committed to remaking the facility in his own image; he would just like to reduce the opposition. Regardless of his talents, Grenell is not one to back down.
When the Kennedy Center opened in 1971, the idea was to be a “living monument” to the assassinated president and a national art center that embodied the global aspirations of America’s political (but not cultural) capital. A public-private partnership funded by taxpayers, donors, and ticket buyers made the facility possible; His orchestra, opera, and theater were two-way draws. By 2019, the facility had completed a major architectural expansion. It was, however, a little dusty feeling. But Trump’s decision to take the center was less a statement about his moral character and more about the president’s perception of his own authority.
Last February, Trump abused the traditional position of his office as the appointee of the board of trustees clean up members appointed by previous administrations. He couched this in political terms—citing, for example, drag shows “targeting our youth”—and chose Grenell, a bomb-throwing loyalist who previously served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany and later as acting director of national intelligence.
As America’s Trumpiest art curator, Grenell seemed to relish the opportunity and – like the rest of Trump’s inner circle – frequently volunteered for the president at X, especially as the artists and patrons of the Kennedy Center rejected Trump’s grab. He to be called of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda “intolerant of people who don’t agree with him politically” by starting a musical from the Kennedy Center. He entered the extended email exchange where he accused a low-profile artist—the talented fingerstyle guitarist Yasmin Williams—of being hollow and anti-Republican. He the suspect former Kennedy Center leadership of “fraud” and financial mismanagement, which the leaders denied. Often, his communications team ignored questions from journalists, and then Grenell published them under the name X.
Under Grenell, the institute became the “Trump Kennedy Center” months before the board made the name official. There was more programs with Christian themesvenue rental to right-wing groups such as Conservative Political Action Conferenceand events related to the priorities of the Trump administration, including a Saudi investment platform the same week that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Trump in Washington. In the World Cup draw in December, Trump received the first ever draw “FIFA Peace Prize” during an event that forced the postponement or relocation of orchestral concerts and other programs. In January, a documentary Melania had its world premiere at the Kennedy Center.
Although Grenell boasted of firing overpaid executives, saving the station’s finances, and bringing in more fundraising money, a. Washington Post an analysis of publicly available ticket data found that sales had fallen. The name change compounded the problems: Famous soloists like banjoist Béla Fleck and famous groups like the Martha Graham Dance Company and the San Francisco Ballet. left the Kennedy Center dates in silent or open protest. Philip Glass, perhaps America’s most famous composer, drawn world premiere of the symphony from the orchestra’s calendar. The Washington National Opera left. Although some events, including the Vienna Philharmonic concert, sell out, many empty seats remain a regular sight.
And now it’s closing. Trump has said a shutdown is necessary for a proper recovery, but many workers see it as a way to compensate for declining earnings and relentless negative media coverage. Representative Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves as an ex-officio board member, is suing stop closing. Grenell, who lives in California, was rarely at the facility, and a current employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me this week that Grenell’s departure was widely expected by the staff. “There was a lack of leadership; he really wasn’t around,” this man told me. “And he did not give his deputies the authority to make decisions on his behalf.” This employee’s job, along with many others, will end in July when the facility closes its doors.
Many questions about the Kennedy Center remain unanswered. The National Symphony Orchestra, which has retained its membership and is located on a hot artistic streakwill seek new venues for the next two years—an unprecedented challenge for a major American orchestra, given such short notice. It’s unclear what will happen to already scheduled Broadway tours that have dates during the stretch the center will now close, or where the annual Kennedy Center Honors Awards, which Trump organized and hosted last year, will be held. Responding to an email on Friday, the Kennedy Center’s communications chief wrote only, “I would refer you to the Chairman’s statement” — referring to Trump’s Social Truth post — “and the Axios piece.”
On Friday, before announcing Floca’s new role (who is not president, but chief operating officer and executive director), Trump. joint provision of the “new, vastly improved, TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER!” They don’t look like a teardown at all, which should allay the fears of some critics, but more like the station as it is today, just a little “boosted”. After July, when the orchestra closes and the musicians find a new home, it won’t be the Kennedy Center. It will just be a building.
I’ve long wondered why Grenell, a man who didn’t want the job he had—at least not for any reason other than to please Trump—bothered so many online fights on behalf of the Kennedy Center. As a member of the historical ruling class, he probably saw combating critics as a fundamental aspect of the job. (It certainly seemed that way to me in January, when Grenell called me to complain about “fake news” after he wrote a headline he didn’t like. Washington Postwhere I once worked.) But Trump has his own limits. CNN reported yesterday that the president was finally giving up and negative headlines about restructuring. According to AxiosGrenell “will still work for the organization as an unpaid consultant.” Like the founders, he will be a volunteer.
