Former Kennedy Center president refutes Trump's critique of 'bad management' [View all]
Source: NPR
May 21, 2025 2:43 PM ET
Deborah Rutter, the former Kennedy Center president who was fired by President Donald Trump in a major shakeup of the institution, is rejecting criticisms of her tenure.
In February, Trump abruptly ousted Rutter, as well as board chair and major donor David Rubenstein and board members appointed by President Joseph Biden. Trump's newly-elected board voted him in as the new chair. At a dinner with the Kennedy Center board Monday evening, Trump said the previous leadership spent millions of dollars. "I don't know where they spent it," he said. "They certainly didn't spend it on wallpaper, carpet or painting."
Also in the video, current Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell claimed the "deferred maintenance of the Kennedy Center is criminal" and that a review of previous years' budgets "found $26 million in phantom revenue." He said he planned to "refer this to the U.S. attorney's office."
In response to the assertions, Rutter wrote in a statement, "I am deeply troubled by the false allegations regarding the management of the Kennedy Center being made by people without the context or expertise to understand the complexities involved in nonprofit and arts management." Rutter's statement was emailed to the media Tuesday and is now posted on her website.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/nx-s1-5405565/kennedy-center-trump-deborah-rutter
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