Trump Ousts Ric Grenell as Kennedy Center Head After Year of Turmoil

AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

President Donald Trump is planning to oust Ric Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center, reported CNN Friday afternoon, with the president later confirming the report in a Truth Social post.

Shortly after his second inauguration, Trump appointed himself to the board for the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and added several of his allies to the board as well, who then named him chair. It was a divisive move, with the president’s MAGA supporters cheering his takeover, his critics left disgusted, performers cancelling in protest, and ticket sales in a free fall. Grenell was tapped to serve as executive director in February 2025 and tasked with carrying out the numerous changes Trump sought.

The announcement last December that Trump’s name would be added to the Kennedy Center sparked swift outrage from members of the Kennedy family and other critics of the president, outrage that spiked after Trump’s name was added to the building’s wall a mere day later. The center’s website, social media, and other digital branding were also updated to say “The Trump Kennedy Center.” Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), who serves on the Kennedy Center board, filed a lawsuit arguing that under federal law, only Congress had the power to change the name.

Last month, Trump announced that the Kennedy Center would be closed for two years for renovations.

Grenell has been a staunch Trump loyalist and served in multiple roles during Trump’s terms in office, including acting Director of National Intelligence, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, and the special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations.

According to Friday’s report by CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty and Kristen Holmes, Trump is “expected to remove” Grenell from his position as head of the Kennedy Center, citing “three sources familiar with the matter.”

The turmoil from the changes to the Kennedy Center has sparked “a slew of negative headlines,” reported CNN, which has “frustrated” the president, and now he “kind of is souring on [Grenell].” The announcement that Grenell is being replaced could come as early as Friday.

“One source familiar with the White House view said that the president liked Grenell, but felt that he had fumbled when it came to his leadership of the Kennedy Center, including on managing the publicity,” reported CNN.

Another source “lamented that Grenell had no experience or grounding in the arts world and came in ‘with a sledgehammer’ and ‘campaign schticks’ that are moving the institution in the wrong direction,” the CNN article noted, with people who were working with Grenell at the center “described him as combative, confrontational and headstrong.”

“Ric worked really hard to keep in Trump’s good graces, but Trump got tired of turning on the news and hearing every day how bad the Kennedy Center was being run and (how) Trump is killing it,” a source told CNN.

Reached for comment, a White House official “insisted that Grenell wasn’t being fired but that he was always intended to help during the Kennedy Center’s transition period and then leave the role.”

Friday afternoon, Trump confirmed that Grenell was leaving his position, to be replaced by the center’s vice president for Facilities and Operations, Matt Floca, in a Truth Social post:

I am pleased to announce that Matt Floca, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, will be named the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, of THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER where, as Vice President of Operations, Matt has helped us achieve tremendous progress in bringing the Center to the highest level of Excellence! A Complete Reconstruction of THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER will begin after the July 4th Celebration, with a scheduled Grand Re-Opening in approximately two years. Ric Grenell has done an excellent job in helping to coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition period, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done. THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER will be, at its completion, the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the World! President DONALD J. TRUMP

This article has been updated with additional information.

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