Richard Grenell, the Trump ally installed to lead the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, is leaving the post after just over a year at the helm of the cultural institution — ending a turbulent tenure marked by staff departures, artist cancellations and plummeting ticket sales.
President Donald Trump on Friday confirmed the leadership change in a Truth Social post, announcing that Matt Floca, the center’s vice president of facilities operations, will succeed Grenell pending board approval. Trump, who plans to close the center in July for a two-year reconstruction project, also posted renderings of the planned renovation, though exterior changes visible in the images appeared to be minor.
“Ric Grenell has done an excellent job in helping to coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition period, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done,” Trump wrote. The Kennedy Center did not provide additional comment about Grenell’s departure.
Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence, was selected by Trump to lead the Kennedy Center as part of the president’s sweeping leadership overhaul that followed his return to office.
In February 2025, Trump fired many members of the Kennedy Center’s board and installed himself as chairman, setting the stage for Grenell’s arrival and a new, politically charged direction for an institution that was founded on bipartisan stewardship.
Grenell’s leadership at the center quickly drew scrutiny from artists, patrons and former employees who expressed concerns that the center had become an extension of MAGA politics.
During his tenure, ticket sales plummeted for the center’s largest performance venues; Senate Democrats launched an investigation into its spending practices and booking deals with political allies; and the board voted to add Trump’s name to the building — prompting dozens of artist cancellations.
Grenell has long defended his management, arguing that the center needed structural and operational changes, claiming that it raised $117 million, and accusing previous leadership of hemorrhaging money.
“The books were a mess when I walked in. We were paying staff with debt reserves, we didn’t have money in the bank,” Grenell said during an interview on Fox News in November. “We’ve cleaned up the programming so it’s ‘common-sense’ programming.”
Trump and his new Kennedy Center team have also claimed that the center was in grave disrepair — reporting broken elevators, rat infestations and crumbling concrete in the parking garage.
With a background in construction and facilities management, Grenell’s successor, Floca, will steer the institution through the planned reconstruction project.
Some staffers at the Kennedy Center said they were cautiously optimistic about the change.
Floca, who joined the center in 2024, is part of the “old guard,” said one employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The person added that they are hopeful he can bring some stability back to the institution in the months before its closure.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Floca previously worked for the District of Columbia as a construction project manager and director of facilities management. “His devotion to improving properties across the District of Columbia’s portfolio of public buildings has resulted in a comprehensive understanding of the built environment and efficient building management practices,” the Kennedy Center wrote in a May 2024 news release announcing his hiring.
Plans for the center’s shutdown and renovations largely remain unclear, and the renderings Trump unveiled in a Truth Social post Friday showed few structural changes to the complex.
The cornices appear thicker, though that could simply be shorthand used by whomever created the renderings. The roof and some of the windows look like they’ve been updated. The images appear to include Trump-era changes to the columns, which have been painted white, and the signage outside the institution, which now includes Trump’s name.
They also reveal some landscaping changes, including new trees along the terrace facing the Potomac, where the center last year removed several willow trees.
In his post announcing Floca’s promotion Friday, Trump said, “Matt has helped us achieve tremendous progress in bringing the Center to the highest level of Excellence!”
He continued: “Ric Grenell has done an excellent job in helping to coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition period, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done.”
Grenell did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Travis Andrews contributed to this report.
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