“Tthat's the tactic they're using,” said Sheldon Whitehouse, a senator from Rhode Island, wondering whether Donald Trump could attach his name to John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “You throw stuff around, you throw stuff around, and you throw stuff around until people get used to what a stupid or outrageous thing it was that was said, and then you pull the trigger.”
Whitehouse sat in his Senate office speaking to the Guardian at 11am on Thursday 18 December. Two hours later, his words proved prophetic. Caroline Leavitt, White House press secretary, announced X that the Kennedy Center's board voted “unanimously” to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center.
By Friday, workers on scissor lifts were adding metal lettering Family members of Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, condemned the move as “over the top” and said an act of Congress would be needed to change its name.
The takeover of the national cultural center began in February when, in what many critics see as an example of institutional takeover, Trump kicked out Kennedy Center board members appointed by former President Joe Biden. took over as chairman and appointed Richard Grenell, a longtime ally and former ambassador to Germany, as its president.
In November, Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), launched an official investigation on allegations of widespread cronyism, financial abuse and corruption in what he calls the “secular temple of art.”
Democrats on the committee said they had obtained documents that suggest the national cultural center is being used as a “slush fund and private club for Trump's friends and political allies,” resulting in millions of dollars in losses and a significant deviation from its charter mission.
Whitehouse sent a letter Grenell demanding detailed documents and records. Grenell released fiery response accusing the senator of “partisan attacks and false accusations.” He said the negligence of the center's previous management led it to “financial chaos” and “literally led to the collapse of the building.”
Whitehouse, an ex-officio Kennedy Center board member, is undaunted and determined to continue his investigation. Speaking from his Capitol Hill office, he explained: “We started getting information about the atrocities going on at the Kennedy Center, and we got strong enough signals that we made an effort to dig into it and see what was really going on.
“It was through these efforts that a report and letter arrived, which essentially said that when the robbers captured the ship, their first instinct was to plunder it for their own gain, hire their friends and put the people in luxurious rooms in Watergate [Hotel] and allowing select organizations free access, all part of the Magician's party atmosphere.»
A central allegation in the investigation is that the Kennedy Center provides preferential access and financial benefits to organizations associated with the Trump administration and its allies. According to the contract, Grenell granted world soccer's governing body FIFA free and exclusive use of the entire Kennedy Center campus from November 24 to December 12 for World Cup draw.
Whitehouse estimates it will cost the Center $5,038,444 in losses from direct rent, program relocation, labor, food and beverage and other services. Many events have been canceled or postponed in accordance with FIFA requirements.
Grenell denied the allegation in his letter, saying: “FIFA has provided us with several million dollars in addition to paying all expenses for this event in lieu of rent. Your focus on mere rent is not the way to operate an institution as diverse as the Kennedy Center. Mere rent would not be sufficient to capture the enormity of the event.”
But Whitehouse says this defense is not supported by any documentation. FIFA “has been relentless in pursuing Trump and giving him ridiculous peace trophies to butter him up, while at the same time getting free access to the Kennedy Center,” the senator noted.
Rome Daravivice president of communications for the Kennedy Center, said in a statement Wednesday: “FIFA is providing several million dollars to the Kennedy Center – far more than the rental income – plus they cover all expenses.”
Daravi accused Whitehouse of deliberately sharing “misleading information” with US newspapers The New York Times and Washington Post, adding: “The press and the senator should be ashamed of themselves for the lies they print and reprint – we want a cultural center for ALL Americans, but they promote lies to sow discord among Americans because of their selfish headline moment.”
Contracts show conservative groups were given large discounts on rent: NewsNation received a $19,820 discount for an event at City Hall; The American Conservative Union Foundation received a discount of $21,982.60 for the CPAC meeting called Christian Persecution Summit. The contract file expressly notes “refusal of expenses by the PLO” (Presidential Administration).
Whitehouse added: “If they didn't pay the Kennedy Center's normal rates, they are given benefits, and those benefits seem to only go to groups that are associated with Trump and Maga. This is essentially a direct way to use this public institution to put money in the pockets of allied groups.”
The investigation also revealed lucrative contracts awarded to individuals with personal or political ties to Grenell and his allies.
On April 14, the center awarded a $15,000-a-month contract to a former colleague of Grenell's when he was ambassador to Germany. The letter says the contract is “devoid of any detail” and there is no evidence of significant performance that could justify payments.
In his letter to Whitehouse, Grenell defended the hire, describing his former colleague as an “experienced editor, researcher and writer” whose work on the special exhibition was “100%” covered by a donor who gave $10 million to the Center.
In May, the center awarded a $10,833.33-a-month contract to Jeff Halperin, the husband of a staunch Trump ally. Kari Lakefor social media capture/editing services. In his response, Grenell praised Halperin for his “incredible multimedia experience.”
The documents detail significant expenses for lavish hospitality and entertainment for employees and partners, which the letter describes as unrelated to official fundraising or development purposes.
Between April 21 and July 16, Grenell's team charged the Center $27,185 for rooms at the luxury Watergate Hotel. These fees, which include multi-night stays, missed bookings and valet parking, are described as “unprecedented”.
Whitehouse contrasted this with previous administrations, where such hospitality was typically extended to entertainers or honorees rather than “allowing some guy you know you hire to put up in Watergate.”
Between April 17 and July 2, $10,773.19 was charged for private lunches, dinners and alcohol. The receipts include expenses for the “Champagne Service,” orders for several bottles of wine, including rosé, and charcuterie. Senior staffers Nick Mead and Rick Loughery, who also hold leadership positions in political organizations founded or led by Grenell, were named in several bills for these expenses.
The investigation notes reports that the Kennedy Center is operating over budget amid… drop in ticket sales. Whitehouse speculated that the decline was due to a “bad signal to Washington” from new management, a change in programming that “appeals to a much smaller market of Magician enthusiasts,” and the cancellation of major company appearances. He compared the Trump administration's rise to power to “the Vandals in Rome.”
Grenell insisted that the center's previous leaders were responsible for the center's financial problems and that his team was addressing them. Whitehouse countered that “there is very little reason to believe that the version of events is supported by the facts” and Grenell's team has “provided no documentary evidence for any of them.”
The Senate Committee's investigation into EPW is ongoing. “We're going to keep digging until we're confident we understand the depth of the problem,” Whitehouse said. “But people should be very clear that when a new administration comes to Washington, it will not be normal or appropriate to start lining your own pockets, your friends' pockets, your political allies' pockets with public goods.”
The Kennedy Center is just the tip of the iceberg of Trump's second term taking the culture wars literally. He unveiled plans to build a triumphal arch in Washington and a garden of statues of US “heroes” to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Last week was reported that the administration is threatening to withhold federal funds from the Smithsonian museums unless they provide extensive documentation to verify the contents.
Whitehouse commented: “This is a second-term strategy that allows Trump to be Trump without any guardrails, and it will take him to countless places that presidents haven't gone before. That was just an element of it. Trump sees the crowd. He sees the event. He wants to be in the middle of it, so you can see the Kennedy Center as a place where he can get in front of people and get praise and admiration, and that would be pretty compelling.”
“It's a little different with the Smithsonian, where it's narrative battle to uphold the law to try to restore a rather selective view of American history that fits the Republican and Magician narrative. I don't think you can underestimate the importance of improving storytelling for the Mage movement. They will lie using very obvious facts to protect their story.”
