At the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ticket sales are dwindling with speed. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that in the 10 months following President Donald Trump’s takeover of the center, ticket sales and donations have tumbled.
The performing arts venue is reportedly on track to fall nearly $100 million short of its revenue target, and center officials are predicting that this fiscal year’s revenue will miss its budget target by 70 percent, while contributed revenue is expected to fall 25 percent short.
The center has been trying to recover by slashing expenses, yet it will still fall short, with a projected $23 million deficit.
The Kennedy Center’s board, led by Trump and stacked with his allies, voted in December to inscribe the President’s name on the building’s facade—triggering an ongoing legal struggle with federal court system, which has repeatedly blocked the name change and a two-year closure also pursued by the board. Trump’s takeover of the center has been characterized as “a nosedive” by Andrew Taylor, director of American University’s arts management program, who reviewed the documents for The Post.
He added that the president’s actions “had a consequence, and the consequence was a catastrophic drop in revenue.” However, a Kennedy Center spokesperson told The Post that the center’s financial problems stemmed from previous leadership and years of financial mismanagement, and that adding Trump’s name to the building has ushered in new donors and helped raise money for renovations.
Currently, the center is late to releasing its independently audited financial statements for its first fiscal year under the president’s supervision.
