Singer-songwriter Ben Folds, the former artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, spoke out against Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, where the Symphony is housed, citing a “new partisan toxic environment” that politicizes any affiliated artists.
“These days, if an artist agrees to perform at the Kennedy Center, they risk being seen as explicitly endorsing the Trump administration and all of its policies,” Folds said at a public congressional forum on the Trump Administration’s cuts to arts funding on Tuesday. “Declining an invitation to perform at the Kennedy Center will have an equal and opposite political effect.”
At the forum, which was titled “Monumental Waste: How Donald Trump Is Spending Millions Destroying American Landmarks,” Folds stated that booking artists became challenging after Trump appointed his allies to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees—and made himself chair.
Prior to the overhaul, Folds brought in popular musicians like Jon Batiste and Sara Bareilles to perform alongside the orchestra. Now, however, he said, Trump’s political agenda dictates who performs.
“I could not trust that artists I booked at the Kennedy Center would be safe from retribution if they said or sung something that might displease the president or his political lackeys who now controlled the Center,” Folds said. “I could not perform my job or the mission I was brought on to do, and for this reason, with great sadness, I had no choice but to resign.”
Folds, who became the first artistic adviser for the National Symphony Orchestra under the first Trump administration, also pushed back against the president’s claims that the Kennedy Center was in dire financial straits prior to his takeover.
“We had straight, sold-out shows on our programs, and as far as I knew, at least a few years came up in the black there,” Folds said. “It is really, really impressive, and so no, I think the Kennedy Center was going through some golden years, in my opinion.”
Folds urged conservative congressional leaders, whom he noted “seem absent today,” to recognize the administration’s politicization of the arts.
“The takeover hobbled the Kennedy Center, broke its once-proven successful business model and disrespected its original core mission,” he said. “Our beloved institution needs to be resuscitated.”
He also said that “You have to marvel” at Trump for believing he could run such a massive business as the Kennedy Center without any experience in arts administration. He cited shrinking audiences, fewer outreach programs, and the exit of the Washington National Opera as evidence of the damage.
“I think most of us understand that when you politicize art, you get propaganda,” he said.
Since Trump took over the Kennedy Center in early 2025, the venue has faced declining ticket sales and major artist cancellations. Trump has tried—and failed—to shut down the Kennedy Center for two years for construction.
A court order kept the venue open, but center executives will not schedule new shows or concerts, rendering the building “eerie” and empty, with renovations resulting in costly missteps.
Trump also put his own name on the building’s exterior, which U.S. District courts ruled violated federal law and ordered its removal. The president has since covered up the façade with a large tarp to keep his humiliation out of view.
