The Trump Kennedy Center is an Aging Beauty, Ready for Her Next Act

Last week, President Donald J. Trump posted renderings of the planned renovations and updated exterior of the Trump Kennedy Center. The 55-year-old performing arts center will close for two years, beginning July 4, for renovations which are estimated to cost about $200 million.

The President also announced that Richard “Ric” Grenell, who Trump brought in to restore the aging performing arts center, will be departing his role. Grenell, whose background is in foreign policy, took over as President of the Trump Kennedy Center in February 2025, in addition to his special envoy role.

The Trump Kennedy Center has a rich history, and deserves to be a world class cultural arts center once again.

In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established a commission for a new public auditorium in the nation’s capital. Three years later, he signed the National Cultural Center Act creating the impetus for America to take its place on the world’s cultural stage. In signing this act, President Eisenhower created what would ultimately become the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Two months after President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, Congress passed and President Johnson signed into law legislation renaming the National Cultural Center as a “living memorial” to Kennedy. The new law authorized $23 million to help build what was known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The Center made its public debut on September 8, 1971.

Within the Trump Kennedy Center, the Eisenhower Theater is the traditional home to many of the Kennedy Center’s theater and dance performances. The Opera House was home to Washington National Opera, as well as the annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala. The Concert Hall is the home of the National Symphony Orchestra.

Today, the Trump Kennedy Center as it was renamed, while still magnificent, needs some TLC, to put it mildly. The Trump Kennedy Center is reminiscent of an aging 1970 Jaguar E-Type left out on someone’s driveway for the last 55 years, rather than being garaged and maintained. It’s tired, it’s rusty, the leather seats are torn, and the carpet is ragged.

Since he was re-elected in November 2024, President Donald Trump has sought to overhaul the venue, which he recognized as tired and old. President Trump also criticized that the center was too “woke,” and set to work establishing a new Board of Directors and management team led by Ric Grenell, Trump’s former Director of National Intelligence, former Ambassador to Germany, and most recently, Presidential Envoy for Special Missions.

The Globe recently met with Ric Grenell and his amazing team at the Trump Kennedy Center, and was provided a bottom to top tour of the aging beauty. Grenell shared that his goal was to get the Center back in the black, give it polish and bring in more family friendly performers and performances that people actually wanted to see.

Ric Grenell received a phone call early one Saturday morning from President Donald Trump shortly after the inauguration, with concerns about the Kennedy Center. Within days there was a new Board of Directors and Grenell was named the new Kennedy Center President.

Within a few more days it became clear that center finances were unclear and unstable. Then, some of the staff had resigned. “There was no money in the bank and there were balloon payments due in 2030!” Grenell said.

Grenell quickly hired a new team, and then set about getting the Kennedy Center back in the black. “The place was financially and physically falling apart when I arrived,” Grenell said. 

“The building, however, needs a complete overhaul. It is showing its age everywhere – even in the bathrooms where the bottoms of the stalls are rusted.”

Grenell shared his experiences taking over, starting with digging into the finances. When the previous management could not provide him bank balances, Grenell brought in Donna Arduin as Chief Financial Officer to do a financial overhaul, and it wasn’t good. The Trump Kennedy Center was in the red.

It was also top heavy in development staff, many of whom did not develop much in the way of fundraising or corporate sponsorships. “There were 94 people in the Development Department raising money,” Grenell said. “There are now 12.” Grenell thinned the staff from top to bottom, keeping the most effective. “Every department shrunk for efficiency. We went back to back to the basics.”

Decades of deferred maintenance had left the building literally crumbling – and financially near bankruptcy while paying staff salaries with debt reserves, Grenell said. “And we fixed the woke programming,” Grenell added. 

Roma Daravi, Vice President of Public Relations at the Trump Kennedy Center, and Grenell described the former leadership, which built a broken budget with an operating deficit of $100 million and a bottom-line deficit of $26 million. They went to work, and from February 2025 to the end of the calendar year the Trump Kennedy Center raised $130 million, as corporate sponsors and donors responded positively to changes in leadership and programming.

Daravi explained that they prioritized commonsense programming that appeals to broad audiences—rather than niche programming that struggles to fill seats. She said in doing so, the Trump Kennedy Center has restored financial stability, welcomed corporations and individual donors back, and revitalized the Center’s standing as a beacon of American cultural diplomacy. Notably, there are no politics involved – The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a bipartisan institution where everyone is welcomed. The Trump Kennedy Center is committed to championing artists and audiences who want to keep politics out of the Arts.

Daravi said that while some performers cancelled previously scheduled performances in protest of the new management and vision, plenty of artists expressed interest in playing the Trump Kennedy Center – such as Miranda Lambert, Brooks and Dunn, and Cheap Trick who all just performed in December. “We also added Dolly Parton’s Threads and a new Jazz Speakeasy at the rooftop restaurant and bar—which was sold out on New Year’s Eve,” Daravi noted.

Some of the other changes include ending its exclusive partnership with the Washington Opera. Daravi said that with greater flexibility and available funds, the Trump Kennedy Center can provide patrons with a variety of opera programming without losing money.

Meanwhile, the National Symphony Orchestra boasts impressive fundraising and trustee engagement.

Daravi said the Fall 2025 Gala was so successful, they raised record funds for the National Symphony Orchestra, noting that 50% of Gala donors were new to the Orchestra, indicating continued growth heading into the new season.

This year’s Trump Kennedy Center Honors raised $23 million, nearly twice as much as the year before.

Today the Trump Kennedy Center is in the black with a full event schedule, as well as preparing for a full, two-year renovation plan, starting in July and slated for completion in 2028.

President Trump announced last Friday on Truth Social that Ric Grenell will depart his position at the head of the Kennedy Center before it closes for scheduled renovations in July.

Grenell’s work is done there.

So what’s ahead?

Daravi provided the most amazing tour of the Trump Kennedy Center–of what needs to be renovated (and there’s plenty that needs that TLC mentioned earlier) and shared the vision for the renovations.

“As America’s cultural center, we are proud to celebrate the importance of cultural diplomacy to America’s story from its founding to the present day,” Daravi said.

As for repairs, renovations and upgrades, the list is very long. “The Center flooded when it rained, storm and plumbing pipes breaking. The Roof leaks. The elevators stuck,” Grenell added. “I took video of the flooding – I had to show the deferred maintenance to Senators in order to get the funding in the One Big Beautiful Budget bill.” 

Marble needs replacing, and there is marble throughout the exterior. Corner are chipped and walls are pocked.

Roofing needs work and waterproofing – there are leaks in many places.

The concert hall needs acoustical improvements and hall seating needs to be replaced. The seats are quite uncomfortable and lumpy. Eisenhauer Theater seats need to be replaced as well.

Bathrooms throughout the Center need upgrading.

Elevators don’t work.

The Opera House needs lighting improvements and the pit lift needs replacing.

The generator system needs to be upgraded.

Both the Eisenhauer Theater and Opera House need rigging replacement.

The garage needs structural concrete repairs.

Perimeter and physical security improvements need to be made.

The sitting rooms by boxes need updating.

The Center’s Circle lounges need sponsors and updating.

There is so much work to be done because the longer maintenance was deferred, the more disrepair the Trump Kennedy Center fell into and  the project became more expensive.

Additionally, trying to remain open to the public proved daunting and a logistical challenge of magnitude proportions. So, the Trump Kennedy Center will close for two years while these renovations are made.

The Trump Kennedy Center has unfortunately been underutilized, and can and should be used as a venue for many different types of events– from the fabulous 360 degree rooftop space, to the rooftop restaurant and bar and new speakeasy, to the open spaces of the grand entrance, and concert hall. Center Circle lounges were allowed to fall into disrepair. Recently, Syberjet masterfully renovated a lounge, bringing it into the 21st Century and turning the space into a welcoming and beautiful space to enjoy.

At Monday’s meeting with the Trump Kennedy Center Board of Directors, President Trump said Ric Grenell is stepping down from his role as President of the center, and Matt Floca, who until now has been the center’s vice president of facilities and operations, will be the CEO.

President Trump thanked Grenell for his work leading the Trump Kennedy Center, calling him “unbelievable” and praising him for his time serving as U.S. ambassador to Germany during the president’s first term, CBS reported.

🇺🇸 NEW🇺🇸

Our Chairman, President Donald J. Trump, thanks Ambassador Richard Grenell for his outstanding service as President of the Trump Kennedy Center and announces Matt Floca, Vice President of Facilities Operations, as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director. pic.twitter.com/DygrqWzYq8

— The Trump Kennedy Center (@kencen) March 16, 2026

July 5, 2026, will be begin the next act for the Trump Kennedy Center.