President Trump visited the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Monday for the first time since he stunned the cultural and political establishment nearly five weeks ago by taking over the institution.
Mr. Trump made himself chairman of the center’s board last month after dismissing all of the Biden-era appointees, upending a bipartisan tradition that had endured for decades. He planned to preside over a board meeting, and tour the center with a “business developer mind,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
“I’m sure he will make some recommendations on how the center itself can be improved,” Ms. Leavitt said at a news briefing on Monday, “but also we’ll be discussing perhaps some future plays and musicals and theatrical programs that the center will be hosting under his new leadership.”
At the board meeting on Monday, Mr. Trump planned to push through a resolution giving him more oversight of the selection of artists and performers recognized at the annual Kennedy Center Honors program. The awards ceremony, an annual star-studded gala that is televised on CBS, is the institution’s most important fund-raiser of the year.
In 2017, early in his first term, several honorees criticized Mr. Trump. He boycotted the show that year and for the remainder of his term, breaking with tradition.
Now, after changes that will likely be approved on Monday, Mr. Trump will have the power to hire and fire members of the committee that helps decide who will receive the honor. Since the program began in 1978, honorees have been chosen without White House interference.
Ahead of the president’s visit several portraits had been hung on the center’s walls showing Mr. Trump; the first lady, Melania Trump; and Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance.
It is not clear what kind of artists Mr. Trump would like to see honored at the Kennedy Center. He has shown an affinity for stars like Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight, all of whom have supported Mr. Trump and whom he recently appointed as ambassadors to Hollywood. His supporters include musicians like Kid Rock and Lee Greenwood, whom Mr. Trump appointed to the Kennedy Center’s board.
Since Mr. Trump took over the Kennedy Center, several prominent events were canceled there in protest, including the musical “Hamilton,” which scrapped a planned tour there next year.
Mr. Trump and his aides have suggested that the Kennedy Center’s previous leaders left the institution in poor financial health and in a state of disrepair.
The center, like other federally owned properties, has deferred some maintenance on its building because of budget constraints. The center receives only a small portion of its $268 million budget — about $43 million, or 16 percent — from the federal government. That money is not spent on programming but is earmarked for operations, maintenance and repairs of the property.
The Kennedy Center’s board is now made up of more than 30 of Mr. Trump’s allies, including his chief of staff, Susie Wiles; the attorney general, Pam Bondi; and the Fox News commentator Maria Bartiromo.
It remains to be seen whether Mr. Trump’s team can raise enough revenue through ticket sales and private donations to keep the Kennedy Center running at its current size. The center stages more than 2,000 performances each year.
When he took over the center last month, Mr. Trump ousted the longtime chairman, the financier David M. Rubenstein, the center’s largest donor, and fired Deborah F. Rutter, the center’s president for more than a decade.
He installed a loyalist, Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany, as the center’s president. Mr. Grenell recently brought on Donna Arduin Kauranen as chief financial officer. She has served in a number of budget and finance roles for former Republican governors, including Jeb Bush in Florida, Arnold Schwarzenegger in California and George E. Pataki in New York.
In a prelude to Mr. Trump’s appearance on Monday, Mr. and Ms. Vance visited the Kennedy Center on Thursday for a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra, one of the center’s main ensembles.
The Vances were loudly booed while taking their seats, and a video of the incident circulated widely on social media. Mr. Grenell denounced the episode, saying: “Diversity is our strength. We must do better. We must welcome EVERYONE. We will not allow the Kennedy Center to be an intolerant place.”
