Ticket sales and subscription revenue at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have fallen sharply since President Trump made himself chairman in February, according to data compiled by employees that was obtained by The New York Times.
Single-ticket sales were down roughly 50 percent in April and May, compared with the same period in 2024, according to the data. Subscriptions, traditionally an important source of revenue, have also declined significantly this season: Revenue was down 82 percent for theater and 57 percent for dance.
At the National Symphony Orchestra, one of the Kennedy Center’s flagship ensembles, subscriptions declined by 28 percent, the data showed. At Washington National Opera, subscriptions were down 25 percent. In total, subscription revenue was projected at $2.7 million in the coming fiscal year, compared with $4.4 million this year.
The numbers were confirmed by a Kennedy Center employee, who was granted anonymity because the information was considered confidential.
The Kennedy Center disputed the relevance of the data on Tuesday, saying the center had changed some aspects of how it marketed and structured subscriptions recently, including by starting its campaign later than usual.
“Our renewal campaign is just kicking off and our hard-copy season brochures have not yet hit homes,” Kim Cooper, the Kennedy Center’s senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “Our patrons wait for our new season brochures and renewal campaigns to take action.”
Ms. Cooper said the center also had yet to announce some programming, including some Broadway shows, that she said “we know will have strong appeal across all audiences.”
The Washington Post earlier reported on the Kennedy Center data.
Mr. Trump stunned the cultural and political worlds when he made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center, vowing to make the institution “hot” again and purging its previously bipartisan board of appointees by President Biden. He ousted the longtime chairman — the financier David M. Rubenstein, who was the center’s largest donor — and stacked the board with his own aides and allies. Deborah F. Rutter, the center’s president for more than a decade, was fired and replaced with a Trump loyalist, Richard Grenell.
Mr. Grenell has spoken frequently about the center’s budget woes, and he has accused its previous leaders of mismanaging its finances.
Last month, at a White House dinner hosted by Mr. Trump for the Kennedy Center board, Mr. Grenell claimed that the center’s deferred maintenance and its deficit — two things commonly found at nonprofit arts organizations — were “criminal.” He said that the new administration had uncovered “$26 million in phantom revenue” and that he would refer the matter to federal prosecutors, though it remains unclear what Kennedy Center officials thought might be criminal.
Mr. Rubenstein and Ms. Rutter have defended their management, saying they left the center in robust financial condition.
The Kennedy Center operates under the Smithsonian Institution as a public-private partnership, and only a portion of its $268 million budget — about $43 million, or 16 percent — comes from the federal government. The rest of the income either has to be earned — through ticket sales, space rentals, parking fees, food vendors and licensing fees — or donated by individuals, corporations or foundations.
The bulk of the Kennedy Center’s revenues, roughly $121 million in 2023, the most recent year for which tax records are available, are derived from ticket sales and other forms of earned income. Subscriptions have been in gradual decline at arts institutions around the United States for more than a decade, but the decline at the Kennedy Center this spring was especially pronounced.
Mr. Trump’s actions at the Kennedy Center have prompted an outcry, leading some artists to cancel engagements there in protest. The musical “Hamilton” scrapped a planned series of performances there next year.
Mr. Trump continues to play a big role in trying to reshape the center. He attended a board meeting in March, recently requested $257 million from Congress to help with capital repairs and plans to attend a gala fund-raiser performance of “Les Misérables” next week.
Javier C. Hernández is a Times reporter who covers classical music, opera and dance in New York City and beyond.
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