When President Donald Trump hosted the board of the Kennedy Center at the White House on Monday night, the adviser he selected to lead the institution, Ric Grenell, spoke briefly of what he characterized as a “fraud” in the way that the finances of the institution were previously handled.
But the person who Grenell replaced, Deborah Rutter, today called out what she called a “malicious attempt to distort the facts” about her tenure.
“I stand by my assertion that at the time of my departure, the Kennedy Center was fiscally sound, ontrack to balance its budget for the year, and positioned to grow its endowment significantly whileserving as a beacon for free artistic expression and a place where everyone could belong,” Rutter said in a statement.
Just weeks into his presidency, Trump removed all the board members who had been appointed by Joe Biden. The Trump-controlled board ousted Rutter, and Trump himself replaced the chairman, David Rubenstein. Grenell, a longtime adviser, was named the new president.
At the White House dinner on Monday, with figures such as Steve Wynn and Lee Greenwood in attendance, Grenell said that Trump “is actually saving the Kennedy Center,” while calling the deferred maintenance on the complex “criminal.”
Grenell said that the new CFO of the Kennedy Center, Donna Arduin, went through the budgets from 2024 and 2025 and found $26 million in “phantom revenue.”
“It’s criminal,” Grenell said, adding that they would refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is a member of the board, Grenell noted, and “she heard all the details. “This is unacceptable in America to have a fake revenue of $26 million — fraud on previous donors.”
In her statement, Rutter, who led the center for 10 years, said that during her tenure they “adopted an operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which was approved by the board. That budget served as a blueprint for our operations and programming – standard and responsible practice in arts management. In addition, in line with established management best practices, the Finance, Audit, and Executive Committees of the Board—composed of appointees from President Trump’s first term—had full transparency into all financial transactions and decisions. Financial statements, as well as audit reports, were presented at every board meeting, in fulfillment of the board’s fiduciary responsibilities.”
She also said that they established a reserve fund to cover potential shortfalls, and that about $10 million was available at the time she left in February.
She added that since she left, she has not had access to the current financial situation situation “nor as to how changes in management as well as donor and patron behavior is impacting this year’s operating budget.”
Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center was followed by a number of artists backing out of shows, including the producers of Hamilton, which was to run in 2026.
“Perhaps those now in charge are facing significant financial gaps and are seeking to attribute them to past management, which would include the Board of Trustees, some of whom were appointed by President Trump, in his previous term,” Rutter said.
She also invoked a legal standard used by public figures in defamation claims. “This malicious attempt to distort the facts, which were consistently, transparently and readily available in professionally audited financial reports, recklessly disregards the truth.”
Trump previously visited the Kennedy Center in March and called for upgrading the facilities. He also criticized a recent expansion of the complex. As House Republicans seek to pass a massive reconciliation bill, one budget proposal, reportedly requested by the White House, is for $257 million to renovate the Kennedy Center. Trump has otherwise sought to eliminate funding for major arts and cultural agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Rubenstein said that “with full transparency, the financial reports were reviewed and approved by the Kennedy Center’s audit committee and full board as well as a major accounting firm.”
A Kennedy Center spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Kennedy Center’s budget in 2024 is about $268 million, per Rubenstein, and $45 million of that comes from a federal appropriation to be used for operations and maintenance.
The Kennedy Center’s new management under Grenell recently announced its upcoming season, with a line up that includes Broadway musicals The Outsiders, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Back to the Future The Musical, Mrs. Doubtfire and Spamalot.
Trump had criticized the Kennedy Center’s past programming, and at the White House on Monday, chided what he characterized as “rampant political propaganda, DEI and inappropriate shows.”
“They had dance parties for queer and trans youth,” Trump said, adding that they had “a marxist anti-police performance and they had lesbian-only Shakespeare.”
Grenell said that “when you pick programs that are popular with the public, they respond. People buy tickets.”
“I like to be challenged by the arts,” Grenell said. “I like it when somebody can teach me and make me a little bit uncomfortable in a show. But one thing that we are not going to do at the Kennedy Center is inappropriate content for children.”
The Kennedy Center’s lineup for this season, chosen when Rutter and Rubenstein still led the institution, also was heavy in Broadway shows and non-controversial fare, including Legally Blonde: The Musical, The Sound of Music and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Another show, Les Misérables, opens next month, Trump is reportedly planning to host a fundraiser tied to the performance.
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