Ticket sales and fundraising at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington's flagship performance venue, have deteriorated sharply since President Donald Trump moved to attach his own name to the institution.
The Washington Post reported on the 25th that internal documents it obtained and reviewed showed the center's ticket revenue and donations had collapsed. The findings contrast with claims by the center's leadership that its finances have improved.
Two weeks into his second term in early February last year, Trump announced he was dissatisfied with the Kennedy Center's management direction and programming, replaced its president and board members, and said he would take over as chairman himself. Ticket sales fell sharply afterward. Sales and fundraising then plunged after the board passed a resolution in December last year to rename the venue the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, or the Trump Kennedy Center.
According to the center's own analysis cited by the Post, revenue reached only $124 million, or 171.8 billion won, as ticket sales and donations dropped following the renaming. That is expected to fall far short of the roughly $220 million, or 304.8 billion won, targeted in its budget plan.
A person familiar with the center's finances said it had taken an enormous hit since the takeover, and that after the renaming, donors, ticket revenue and artists had all disappeared.
Pressing Ahead With the Trump Kennedy Center Plan
Trump and the board members he appointed are pushing to rename the venue the Trump Kennedy Center, place his name on the building's signage, and close the center for two years for a $250 million, or 350 billion won, renovation.
The center is a federally chartered institution that receives government funding, and changing its name requires a congressional resolution. The board bypassed that process and pushed through the renaming with a board vote alone.
A federal court injunction in May halted the plan for now, but Trump's side has said it intends to proceed.
In a court filing on the 24th, Trump's lawyers argued that without the renovation the building would continue to deteriorate and could require demolition, and asked the court to allow the plan to move forward.
