Trump Says He Will Install Himself as Kennedy Center Chairman

President Trump announced his intention on Friday to bring the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington more firmly under his control, saying he would dismiss several board members and install himself as chairman.

“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.

Mr. Trump said he would “immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”

He added: “We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Mr. Trump’s plan to purge the board and appoint himself was first reported Friday by The Atlantic. He posted his announcement shortly thereafter.

The news stunned the world of arts and culture but was not a surprise to people who speak with Mr. Trump. In the weeks after his election win, Mr. Trump has been saying to people that he wants to be the chairman of the storied Kennedy Center.

The current chairman is David M. Rubenstein, the financier and philanthropist who has held the position for more than a decade. Mr. Rubenstein’s retirement in January 2025 had been announced, but after Mr. Trump’s election, the Kennedy Center said that he would stay in the role until September 2026.

Mr. Rubenstein, who was initially appointed by former President George W. Bush, has hosted former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at one of his homes. But he has also maintained a cordial enough relationship with Mr. Trump that Mr. Trump spoke with him for an interview for a book about presidents that was published in 2024.

Reached Friday evening just before and after the president posted his announcement, several board members said they were caught unawares by the news and had yet to be told by anyone whether they would be terminated or not.

But at least one board member who was appointed by Mr. Biden received an email informing them of their termination from Sergio Gor, who runs Mr. Trump’s presidential personnel office. It read simply: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position on the Board of The Kennedy Center is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service.” (Subject line: “An Update from the White House.”)

The Kennedy Center said in a statement on Friday evening that it had not received any communication from the White House regarding the changes to its board and acknowledged that some board members had received termination notices.

“Per the Center’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the center’s board members,” the statement said. “There is nothing in the center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board.”

During his first term, Mr. Trump broke with tradition by declining to attend the Kennedy Center Honors, the group’s hallmark program, after some honorees criticized him.

Mr. Trump’s plan to remake the board would break with years of precedent at the Kennedy Center, which has long prided itself on a tradition of bipartisanship. It was the latest example of his efforts to upend norms in Washington in the first 100 days of his second term.

The Kennedy Center’s board, which has 36 members, has recently been evenly divided between Republican and Democratic appointees. Members of the board are appointed to six-year terms, suggesting they aren’t supposed to simply be dismissed. But Mr. Trump has over the course of the last three weeks tested the legal limits of whom he can fire.

In the final weeks of his administration, Mr. Biden filled a dozen vacancies on the board, appointing some of his closest aides, including Karine Jean-Pierre, the former White House press secretary and the political strategist Mike Donilon. The board is roughly split between Biden and Trump appointees.

Current board members picked by Mr. Trump during his first term include Pam Bondi, his attorney general, and Elaine Chao, who was transportation secretary during his first term and is married to Senator Mitch McConnell.

Last month, the Trump administration quietly dissolved the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, part of a flurry of executive orders aimed at rolling back the previous administration’s policies on art, culture and historical commemoration.

Mr. Rubenstein did not immediately respond to a call and text seeking comment.

The leaders of the Kennedy Center had recently expressed optimism about Mr. Trump, saying that Melania Trump, the first lady, who serves as an honorary chair, had personally expressed interest in reconnecting with the center.

Robin Pogrebin contributed reporting.