The Kennedy Center’s board voted unanimously to elect President Trump to be its new chair Wednesday afternoon, as the president reshapes the center’s governing body and performances, moving away from what he views as “woke culture,” multiple sources told CBS News.
One board member, Jacqueline Mars was present, but did not vote, one source said. After Mr. Trump announced plans last week to remove the Kennedy Center’s chairman and board of trustees and install himself as chairman, the White House has begun filling board member slots that are open, sources say.
New board members include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino; second lady Usha Vance; Sergio Gor, director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office; Allison Lutnick, wife of billionaire Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick; and Emilia May Fanjul, one source said.
Mr. Trump participated in the meeting by telephone and made the case for his vision for the Kennedy Center.
The White House started filling a number of open seats this week without fanfare. Some current board members are expected to remain, sources said.
Mr. Trump has tapped ally Ric Grenell to be interim executive director, though his tenure was expected to be brief, two of the sources said.
The board on Wednesday named Grenell as president to replace Deborah Rutter, who had served as president of the Kennedy Center since 2014. She announced last month that she planned to leave at the end of 2025
Mr. Trump doesn’t want productions to lean into “woke culture,” as he believes they have in the past. But some programs will proceed as planned, such as Hadyn’s “Creation,” based on the Biblical creation story and performed by the Choral Arts orchestra and symphonic chorus, one source said.
And the lineup — theater, music, singing, dance — will continue. But Mr. Trump wants the performances to appeal to what he views as a broader, more inclusive and more balanced audience, instead of those that only appeal to half the country, one person said.
Some content on the Kennedy Center website is also expected to be removed, including a reference to the fact that the center is “standing on the traditional land” of the Nacotchtank and Piscataway tribes.
The board also removed David Rubenstein, philanthropist and co-founder of the Carlyle Group. He had been the chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees for 14 years and had announced that he would step down in September 2026. But the White House ousted him first.
Mr. Trump has a strained relationship with the Kennedy Center that dates back to his first term in office, when he announced that he and first lady Melania Trump would not attend the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017, after some award recipients that year threatened a boycott.
The White House considers fundraising for the center to be lackluster, two sources said. The dozens of people on the fundraising team raised more than $90 million last year, while the federal government contributed about $45 million. The rest of its budget came from ticket sales and other proceeds.
According to its website, the Kennedy Center hosts over 2,200 performances, events and exhibits a year, with over 2 million visitors annually. The center was created by Congress in 1958 and serves as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy. Along with the 36 members appointed by the president, trustees also include ex-officio leaders in government designated by Congress.
