Following the publication of a report from The New York Times on Friday night revealing that the Washington National Opera will be leaving the Kennedy Center, members of the Trump administration immediately began scrambling to reframe the news as not only a positive, but their idea.
Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi, who has been hard at work lashing out at artists for cancelling scheduled performances at the once-revered venue, posted a statement to X claiming that the center’s relationship with the opera group has “presented ongoing financial challenges for well over a decade” that “long predate the current leadership.”
“Given the longstanding financial strain, it has become necessary for us to part ways to protect the best interests of the Center,” Daravi wrote.
The statement was then amplified by the venue’s Donald Trump-appointed executive director Richard Grenell, who elaborated on the difficulties surrounding exclusivity agreements.
“Having an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety,” Grenell wrote on X. “We approached the Opera leadership last year with this idea and they began to be open to it.”
In a follow-up post, he wrote, “The exclusive Opera contract cost the Trump Kennedy Center $64 million over the last 10 years—with their expenses being double their revenues.”
“We were very pleased that the current Opera leadership was so willing to end their exclusivity,” he noted.
The New York Times report states that the decision to sever ties was made by the Washington National Opera, with the board of trustees approving a resolution on Friday that will enable the group to terminate its agreement with the venue.
“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” a statement provided to The New York Times said.
Opera officials told the paper that new venues in Washington D.C. have been lined up but that no leases have been signed; they declined to name specific venues.
With the passing of the resolution, the WNO will now seek to move its performances out of the center’s opera house and reduce the number of performances staged there.
The decision marks the end of a partnership between the Kennedy Center and the WNO that dates back to 1971.
While the WNO did not mention the Kennedy Center’s MAGA rebrand as the reason for its departure, they have noted disagreements with new requirements that have been made under the cultural center’s new management.
A long line of well-known performers has canceled planned events ever since President Donald Trump’s takeover of the center, which saw him fire the board in order to populate it with his allies and install himself as chair.
Trump further ignited tensions when he attempted to rebrand the center to bear his name, ignoring the fact that any formal change requires congressional action. A lawsuit was filed shortly after challenging the rebrand.
In response to Trump’s actions, several artists have cancelled planned appearances at the performing arts venue, including comedian Issa Rae, folk act Rhiannon Giddens, musician Kristy Lee, trumpeter Wayne Tucker, and Grammy-winning bluegrass performer Béla Fleck.
On Thursday, singer-songwriter Sonia De Los Santos canceled her Feb. 7 performance at the Kennedy Center, citing her Mexican heritage and the Trump administration’s immigration policies as the reasons behind her decision.
“As an artist, I treasure the freedom to create and share my music, and for many years I have used this privilege to uplift the stories of immigrants in this country,” the Grammy-nominated musician wrote on Thursday. “Unfortunately, I do not feel that the current climate at this beloved venue represents a welcoming space for myself, my band, or our audience.”
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