Trump made chairman of the Kennedy Center when its president fires

President Trump was made chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, he announced on Wednesday and cemented his grip on an institution he recently cleaned of the Biden -appointed.

The center’s long -time president, Deborah F. Rutter, was then fired from her position, the center said. Richard Grenell, a Trump Loyalist who was an ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration, was appointed the center’s temporary president.

Mr. Trump posted on social media: “It is a great honor to be chairman of the Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing board. We will make the Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place! “

Mr. Grenell visited the center on Wednesday, according to an official in the center.

On Wednesday, the center announced a new slate of board members – all appointed by Mr. Trump – and said in a statement that the new board elected Mr. Trump -President and “terminated” Ms. Rutter’s contract.

Mr. Trump’s actions got a scream in the cultural world.

Superstar soprano Renée Fleming said on Wednesday that she would resign as artistic advisor to the center. She praised the center’s departing leaders and said that “out of respect, I also think it is right to deviate.”

“I have appreciated the Bipartisan support of this institution as a lighthouse of America on our best,” said Ms. Fleming in a statement. “I hope that the Kennedy Center continues to flourish and serve the passionate and different audience in the capital of our country and across the country.”

She was not the only high profiled departure. Shonda Rhimes, who had been treasurer of the Kennedy Center, retired from the board, said a spokeswoman for Ms. Rhimes.

And the singer and songwriter Ben Folds said he would also resign his position as adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, which is monitored by the Kennedy Center.

“Given the development of the Kennedy Center, which today is today, I resign as artistic advisor to NSO,” Mr. Folds on Instagram. “Most often and above all, I will miss the musicians in our country’s symphony orchestra – just the best!”

Ms. Rutter said in a statement about her departure that it had been the honor of her career to lead the institution, which in addition to a stage art center is a memorial to former President John F. Kennedy. She did not describe being fired.

“The goal of the Kennedy Center has been to live up to our namesake, serve as a guy for the world and ensure that our work reflects America,” she said. “I leave my position proud of everything we achieved to meet this ambition. From the art of our stages to the students we have influenced in classrooms throughout America, everything we have done in the Kennedy Center has been about lifting the human spirit in service to strengthen the culture of our great nation. “

The Kennedy Center has historically been run by Bipartisan boards in the past. On Monday, the Trump administration officially removed 18 board members who had been appointed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and the chairman of the board, financier David M. Rubenstein.

Center Sent A revised list of board members on its website Wednesday showing how much things had changed.

While the board had been grossly shared between the Biden and Trump -appointed until recently, it now consists entirely of the appointed of Mr. Trump. The new board includes a litany of Trump loyalists, including President’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles; Dan Scavino, a long -time Trump helper; and USHA VANCE, wife of Vice President JD Vance.

Ms. Rutter, the center’s president since 2014, said last month that she was planning to resign at the end of the year.

President Trump’s steps to clean the board of Biden-appointed and install himself as its chairman made up some of the most celebrating changes in Kennedy Center’s 54-year history. But it also raised questions about its legality.

The Kennedy Center said in a statement last week that although such a cleansing of board members had never happened before, it did not see anything in the law to prevent it. An official who said that the center’s thinking was partly governed by court decisions, after Mr. Biden removed a few Trump -appointed from a board of directors and a council.

In a bit of symmetry, both Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden their predecessor’s press secretaries from boards before their terms had risen. Trump removed Karine Jean-Pierre, who had been Mr. The bite’s press secretary, from the Kennedy Center Board. Mr. The bite removed Sean Spicer, Mr. Trump’s former press secretary, from Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.

Mr. Spicer was removed from the Naval Academy Board together with Russell Vought, who had been director of the Office of Management and Budget during Mr. Trump’s first period and recently was named the position in his second period. The two men sued the Biden administration and argued that Mr. The bite did not have the power to remove them. A thing in Washington sided with the Biden administration and said that board members had no such protection.

In 2023, a federal appeal in Washington came to a similar conclusion In a case involving another Trump official, Roger Severino was removed by Mr. The bite from a position at the Council for the Administrative Conference in the United States.

“A defined term of office that stands alone does not limit the president’s removal power during the service holder’s service,” the court said.

Christopher Mills, a lawyer representing Mr. Severino and Mr. Spicer, said the decision on 2023 established a precedent – that it was not enough to protect a board member from dismissal.

“Obviously, if a statute just gives a period of year, the courts have said it does not protect against removal,” he said. “Removal of board members as it is in accordance with a historical trend we have seen with presidents from both parties who claim more control over agencies.”

Other legal experts questioned the legality of the president’s movements and noticed that the statutes creating the Kennedy Center say board members “must” earn six years. “The statute is intended to create an tenure,” said Noah A. Rosenblum, associate professor of law at New York University.

He described Mr. Trump’s actions in the Kennedy Center as “Absolutely of a piece with the other claims of executive power we’ve seen in the last month.”

Legal experts say Mr. Trump’s actions leave the Kennedy Center on unprotected territory.

“Typically, you don’t get the right to appoint yourself,” said Daniel Kurtz, a leading nonprofit lawyer. “It’s not a normal determination.”

Rory Kennedy, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and the youngest child of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, said in an interview earlier this week that she found President Trump’s actions “deeply worrying.”

“This institution, called in honor of my uncle, stands as a beacon for cultural enrichment and artistic expression,” she said. “Let’s honor President Kennedy’s inheritance by defending institutions such as the Kennedy Center against political interference and by demanding accountability from our executive office.”

Trump has a stormy history with Kennedy Center Honors, the institution’s most important collects in the year, which is the television and includes a reception in the White House in front of prices. After several of the artists honored in 2017, early in the First Trump administration, Mr. Trump and suggested that they want to Boikotte the White House, Trump broke with a precedent and remained away from Honour’s Galas throughout his period.