Trump loyalist pronounces first main manufacturing for new-look Kennedy Center and names his dream performer
- Ric Grenell was installed by Trump as interim executive director of the arts center
The man placed in charge of one of the nation’s most prestigious arts institutes offered his vision for its future Friday, promising to clean up the Kennedy Center’s finances and to put on events with mass appeal.
Trump confidant Ric Grenell announced plans for a production telling the story of Christ in time for Christmas.
‘We have to do the big productions that the masses in the public want to see,’ he told a gathering of conservatives just outside Washington, D.C.
‘We want to have really good programming.
‘So the first thing that we’re doing, I think the big change is for everybody to know … you’ve got to be at the Kennedy Center in December, because we are doing a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas.’
Trump launched a purge of the center’s board earlier this month after denouncing its programing choices.
“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,’ he posted on Truth Social
He then installed Grenell as interim executive director, alongside his role as special presidential envoy for special missions.
‘Ric Grenell: ‘We are doing a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas’
President Donald Trump installed Grenell as interim executive director of the Kennedy Center
A traditional nativity scene showing three kings visiting Jesus on the night of his birth
It shows how Trump has waged a culture war alongside his political campaign, targeting hotbeds of opposition to him.
Acts have already reportedly canceled appearances at the Kennedy Center, as arts aficionados wait to see what the new administration does with it.
Grenell, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, said he had inherited an institution that was going further into debt to pay salaries, despite taking $40 million of public money each year.
‘And so what we’re going to say at the Kennedy Center is, first of all, we got to clean up the financial situation,’ he said.
He also said it was not true to say that the Gay Men’s Chorus had canceled its performance, or been canceled by the new leadership, and that it was a decision taken before Trump took charge.
Nor was anyone worrying that big acts would no longer want to perform there,’ he said.
‘We don’t, because we already have them, and I think it’s a real misnomer,’ he said.
Grenell appeared with Politico’s Dasha Burns who asked him who he would most like to see appear at the Kennedy Center.
Dolly Parton onstage at “Dolly: An Original Musical”Fireside Chat. 28 Jan 2025
Dolly Parton, he replied.
Grenell also teased a possible run for governor of California, repeating his line last week that if former Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race then the deep blue state could become winnable for the Republican candidate.
‘If she thinks that she’s going to run for governor of California, a Republican is going to win, and I may not be able to resist trying to run against her,’ he said.
A day earlier, Trump ally Steve Bannon said he had been told the J6 Prison Choir, made up of people jailed for the roles in the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol building, would perform at the center.
‘I talked to Ambassador Ric Grenell last night, and — the J6 choir is going to play the Kennedy Center for a night in honor of their families,’ he said.
