In his presidential sidequest to overhaul the Kennedy Center, Donald Trump wants to get rid of most of the people who make it work.
Dozens of employees of the historic performing arts center are on the chopping block after its board of trustees, handpicked by Trump, 79, voted to approve a two-year renovation project on Monday, CNN reported.
Monday’s meeting minutes said that “approximately 75 to 175 of the Center’s roughly 300 employees” would be impacted by the two-year full shutdown, according to the outlet.
“Major infrastructure needs include HVAC and chilled water systems, electrical infrastructure, structural and concrete deficiencies, service tunnel conditions, waterproofing, roof and steel degradation, and life-safety systems,” the minutes said. “A full shutdown is the most efficient and cost-effective path to complete the work properly.”
Though Trump had announced last month that the Kennedy Center would close in July for a two-year renovation, the organization confirmed in a press release that the board approved the measure unanimously.
Trump said on Monday that the closure “will enable us to complete the work much faster.”
His vision for the new and improved Kennedy Center looks very similar to how it looks now, save for some trees, fountains, and clearer signage displaying Trump’s name.
The vote comes just three days after the president axed its chief operating officer and executive director, Richard Grenell, whom Trump claimed had done an “excellent” job.
Grenell, 59, was replaced by Matt Floca, the vice president of facilities operations at the Kennedy Center, who will oversee the two-year renovation project.
“There was a story he got fired; he didn’t get fired,” Trump said on Monday about Grenell. “He was here for a short period of time, for a year, figuring it out with Matt and everybody else. And Matt now is going to take over.”
“He’s a pro at construction, great at construction, and I think Matt would like to run the facility too,” the president added. “He’s fallen in love with it, and I think he’d do a good job, but if I don’t think he will do a good job, I’ll say, ‘Matt, you’re fired. I’m getting somebody else.’”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Kennedy Center and the White House for comment.
On Saturday, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who serves as an ex-oficio member of the board, put Grenell on blast for his role in putting the institution “out of business.”
“Like a mob bust-out gone wrong, Trumpsters’ looting of the Kennedy Center has put it out of business, and now it needs to be ‘closed for renovations’ as cover-up,” Whitehouse wrote in a post on X. “No surprise he’s being replaced.”
Not taking the jab lightly, Grenell clapped back at the Rhode Island senator in a lengthy screed a few hours later.
“Your buffoonery knows no limits,” Grenell began. “You sat silent while the place went into total disrepair. You sat silent while the staff was paid with monies designed to pay off the future $30 million loan coming due in 2030 because there was no money in the bank to pay salaries.”
The ousted Trump goon raged on, praising the president’s efforts to change the performing arts center.
“This Washington game of kicking the can down the road and never solving problems has ended with President Trump,” he said.
