President Trump was made chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, he announced on Wednesday, cementing his grip on an institution that he recently purged of Biden appointees.
The center’s longtime president, Deborah F. Rutter, was then fired from her position, the center said. Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist who was ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration, was appointed the center’s interim president.
Mr. Trump posted on social media: “It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees. We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!”
Mr. Grenell visited the center on Wednesday, according to an official at the center.
The center announced on Wednesday a new slate of board members — all appointed by Mr. Trump — and said in a statement that the new board elected Mr. Trump chairman and “terminated” Ms. Rutter’s contract.
Mr. Trump’s actions prompted an outcry in the cultural world.
The superstar soprano Renée Fleming said on Wednesday that she would step down as an artistic adviser to the center. She praised the center’s departing leaders and said that “out of respect, I think it right to depart as well.”
“I’ve treasured the bipartisan support for this institution as a beacon of America at our best,” Ms. Fleming said in a statement. “I hope the Kennedy Center continues to flourish and serve the passionate and diverse audience in our nation’s capital and across the country.”
She was not the only high-profile departure. The singer and songwriter Ben Folds said he would also resign his post as an adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, which is overseen by the Kennedy Center.
“Given developments at the Kennedy Center, effective today I am resigning as artistic adviser to the N.S.O.,” Mr. Folds wrote on Instagram. “Mostly, and above all, I will miss the musicians of our nation’s symphony orchestra — just the best!”
Ms. Rutter said in a statement about her departure that it had been the honor of her career to lead the institution, which, in addition to a performing arts center, is a memorial to former President John F. Kennedy. She did not describe being fired.
“The goal of the Kennedy Center has been to live up to our namesake, serving as a beacon for the world and ensuring our work reflects America,” she said. “I depart my position proud of all we accomplished to meet that ambition. From the art on our stages to the students we have impacted in classrooms across America, everything we have done at the Kennedy Center has been about uplifting the human spirit in service of strengthening the culture of our great nation.”
The Kennedy Center has historically been run by bipartisan boards in the past. On Monday, the Trump administration officially removed 18 board members who had been appointed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and the board chairman, the financier David M. Rubenstein.
The center posted a revised list of board members on its website on Wednesday that showed how much things had changed.
While the board had been roughly split between Biden and Trump appointees until recently, it is now entirely made up of appointees of Mr. Trump. The new board includes a litany of Trump loyalists, including the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles; Dan Scavino, a longtime Trump aide; and Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance.
Ms. Rutter, the center’s president since 2014, said last month that she planned to step down at the end of the year.
The post Trump Made Chair of Kennedy Center as Its President Is Fired appeared first on New York Times.
