March 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Monday toured the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as self-appointed chairman, vowing “we’re going to fix it up.”
Trump, who replaced several board members in February, said he was “disappointed” with how the federal government-owned building looked despite having undergone a $250 million expansion project in 2019.
The center — which includes a 2,465-seat Concert Hall, the 2,347-seat Opera House, the 1,161-seat Eisenhower Theater and the 320-seat Family Theater — made its public debut on Sept. 8, 1971.
“I’m very disappointed when I look around,” said Trump, who presided over a board meeting there. “The bottom line: It has tremendous potential. And we’ll work with Congress. … It’s a very public facility, and we’ll do what has to be done.
“We’re going to fix it up, but it’s really emblematic of our country.”
The real estate developer said the center “spent a fortune” on underground rooms “that nobody’s going to use.”
He was joined on the tour by new members he appointed: second lady Usha Vance, his chief of staff Susie Wiles, country music singer Lee Greenwood and Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo
On Monday, Trump said it would have cost $30,000 to move a piano for Greenwood to “sing a little song” at the board meeting. He said “you can’t have that “because of the cost of the union structure.”
On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance and his wife attended a National Symphony Orchestra performance at the Kennedy Center. He was seen in a video being jeered by audience members.
Trump, saying the performances were too “woke,” appointed Richard Grenell, his envoy for special missions, as its interim executive director. On Monday, Grenell said, “We will not allow the Kennedy Center to be an intolerant place” and that there are plans for “a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas.”
Trump announced via Truth Social in February that he was “unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of the prestigious Kennedy Center” by the board, and that “We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”
Deborah Rutter was ousted as the center’s president after serving more than a decade.
“You’ll see over a period of time it will improve very greatly physically and we’re going to get some very good shows,” Trump said.
Twenty-six acts are being removed or postponed from the lineup.
A post to X Monday announced that the murder mystery-comedy show Shear Madness will take place as scheduled at 5 p.m.
The Kennedy Center will open to the general public at 5 p.m. today, March 17. Tonight’s performance of Shear Madness will proceed as scheduled. pic.twitter.com/7Cma70QdeY— The Kennedy Center (@kencen) March 17, 2025
Actor Issa Rae called off a sold-out performance scheduled to take place this month, saying, “Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a run of his Broadway hit, Hamilton, next year.
“I never liked ‘Hamilton’ very much,” Trump said Monday. “I never liked it, but we are gonna have some really good shows.”
During his first term, Trump didn’t attend a performance there, including the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony after several performers honored at the annual gala spoke out against him.
The board typically selects the Kennedy Center honorees.
“It’s a very big part of the fabric of Washington, D.C., and we’re going to make our Capitol great again,” he said in a variation of his theme “Make America Great Again.”
He equated his concern about the center with other matters.
“It is so much like what I’m witnessing in other places,” Trump said Monday. “We have open borders, we have men playing in women’s sports. It’s all the same thing. It’s all the same mentality and thinking. So I’m very disappointed when I look around.”
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