Trump promises to "save" the Kennedy Center: It 'is in tremendous disrepair'

Donald Trump remarked on the importance of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at his first board meeting as president of the arts institution: "This represents a very important part of D.C., and actually our country. I think it's important to make sure that our country is in good shape and is represented well."

After a tour of the facility, the president criticized the previous administration, assuring that it was "in tremendous disrepair, as is a lot of the rest of our country, most of it because of bad management."

In early February, the president replaced the leadership inherited from the Biden Administration with one he trusted, placing in key positions members of his team such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and Chief of Staff, Susi Wiles. He reserved the presidency for himself the and named diplomat Richard Grenell, the interim president.

During his first term in the White House, the Republican did not attend the Kennedy Center even once. This Monday, the president claimed he had been "so busy I haven't been able to be here in a long time," so he had never realized that "this was in such bad shape."

The president doubly assured that he will ask Congress for money to "save the structure" of the building. The seating, the decor, he promised "a lot of changes." "Pretty much everything, needs a lot of work." He also criticized an addition made a couple of years ago to the 1971 building, suggesting that perhaps it should be closed.

"The financial situation and the building’s crumbling infrastructure needs a serious overhaul," Interim President Grenell wrote after the meeting. "The Kennedy Center must be a place where EVERYONE is welcome…. we can turn it around."

Trump also referred to two controversies that have occurred since his self-appointment as head of the center: the booing of JD Vance during a performance and the cancellation of the play Hamilton. On the former, he claimed that his vice president was the "most popular" in office in years, and downplayed the episode.

As for the Broadway play, he said he had never liked it and would like to see other hits like Les Misérables on the Kennedy Center stage. Both its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and its producer, Jeffrey Seller, explained that they were canceling their performance because of the changes introduced by Trump.

Grenell replied that the suspension was merely "a publicity stunt that will backfire." In response to rumors of more cancellations in the program, the institution's communications team stated that the only cancellations in the last month had been due to "lack of sales or artist availability."