The email, which also heralded a \u201ctotal renovation of the building beginning in early July,\u201d has rankled the already embattled roster. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no way to read this message as anything other than preparation for mass layoffs and institutional contraction,\u201d one anonymous staffer told The Post. <\/p>\n
![\"resident](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/66OOT5GTLBBEDLUDS2L734O7K4.jpg\")
Trump started his Kennedy Center makeover last February. Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
\u201cThe language of \u2018renovation\u2019 masks a leadership failure that has driven down ticket sales, donor confidence, and artistic participation. The crisis is self-inflicted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, ticket sales have plunged, and artists have refused to perform en masse since Trump nixed the venue\u2019s board and parachuted himself in as chairman last February. The resulting struggles, some say, are what led to Trump\u2019s abrupt announcement<\/a> that he is closing the building for two years to renovate it. Notably, insiders told The Swamp that this move even surprised Grenell.<\/a> <\/p>\n Yet the latest move from Trump\u2019s lieutenant has added to the collective headache for staff, who were also blindsided by the announcement<\/a> that the venue would be shuttered for two years. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no strategic plan behind this announcement\u2014only a sweeping shutdown framed as progress,\u201d the staffer added. \u201cWhat\u2019s being presented as a renovation is, in practice, a dismantling.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is all so stupid and cruel,\u201d another staffer told The Post. <\/p>\n In the note to staff, Grenell framed the worrying development as necessary for progress. \u201cDuring this aggressive construction phase, departments will obviously function on a much smaller scale with some units totally reduced or on hold until we begin preparations to reopen in 2028,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n \u201cThis period will mean permanent or temporary adjustments for most everyone. We will provide as much clarity and advance notice as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n Officials at the center say they inherited $100 million in debt, and the Trump-induced changes have made it more secure financially. <\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Wall Street Journal<\/a> that the president\u2019s \u201cdeep involvement\u201d is a joy to behold. <\/p>\n \u201cIsn\u2019t it wonderful to have a President who is so deeply involved in every issue, and every detail, that his Administration works on\u2014from massive trade deals to negotiating legislation with Congress and yes, even the reconstruction of the Kennedy Center,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Trump has said the overhaul will cost in the region of $200 million, but an analysis by the Journal places the true figure at around $100 million more than that.<\/p>\n The decision to bolt Trump\u2019s name to the front of the iconic venue also ruffled feathers, according to the paper. \u201cTrump Kennedy Center\u201d was the brainchild of Sergio Gor, a Trump confidant and board member at the center. He floated the idea in a meeting where no one initially expressed any pushback. Privately, however, fellow trustees were frustrated, the Journal reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n They then unanimously voted in favor of the name change. <\/p>\n The White House and the Kennedy Center have been contacted for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kennedy Center staffers have been blindsided by a vague note from the boss of President Trump\u2019s MAGAfied performing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1072,88,51879],"class_list":{"0":"post-462541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-donald-j-trump","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-kennedy-center"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Protesters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770829688_985_MLIQMDBRL5FUXFAJMTDRFIWY6I.jpg\")
Protesters gather in front of the The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after President Donald Trump’s name was added to the facade. The Washington Post\/The Washington Post via Getty Im <\/p>\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SDGINFB5ZRFEJP4VNYC7HNBTVU.jpg\")
Trump leads a board meeting at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts last March. Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images <\/p>\n