Trump says he will dismiss Kennedy Center board members and install himself as chair

President Donald Trump announced his intention Friday to bring the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington more firmly under his control, saying he would dismiss several board members and install himself as chair.

“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.

Trump said he would “immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”

He added: “We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP.”

The current chair is David M. Rubenstein, the financier and philanthropist who has held the position for more than a decade. Rubenstein’s retirement in January 2025 had been announced, but after Trump’s election, the Kennedy Center said that he would stay in the role until September 2026.

Rubenstein, who was initially appointed by former President George W. Bush, has hosted former President Joe Biden at one of his homes. But he has also maintained a cordial enough relationship with Trump that Trump spoke with him for an interview for a book about presidents that was published in 2024.

Reached Friday evening just before and after the president posted his announcement, several board members said they were caught unawares by the news and had yet to be told by anyone whether they would be terminated or not.

At least one board member who was appointed by Biden received an email informing them of their termination from Sergio Gor, who runs Trump’s presidential personnel office.

The Kennedy Center said in a statement that it had not received any communication from the White House regarding the changes.

“Per the Center’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the center’s board members,” the statement said. “There is nothing in the center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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