Trump Questions Use of Equity Actors at Kennedy Center

President Donald Trump, in his first board meeting as chairman of the Kennedy Center, questioned the necessity of employing actors affiliated with Actors’ Equity, the labor union representing performers and stage managers. According to The New York Times, a board member remarked that moving away from Equity-affiliated productions would "open up a whole bunch of more options as well as a lot more money."

Trump, who removed the entire previous board last month and appointed allies such as Richard Grenell as interim president, also expressed dissatisfaction with past honorees. According to audio of the meeting obtained by The New York Times, he criticized past selections as "radical left lunatics" and suggested that future honorees should be "slightly more conservative."

"We’ll go slightly more conservative, if you don’t mind, with some of the people," Trump stated. "There are people out there that would not be considered that are much bigger stars than the ones that were being honored... Just get some good people, some people who are worthy."

Outside the venue before the meeting, Trump also complained about work covered under the Kennedy Center's agreement with IATSE. Referring to the country singer who frequently accompanied him to campaign events, Trump stated "Lee Greenwood wanted to sing a little song today, and because of the cost and the union structure, for him to sing a song just for the board, was going to cost $30,000. They wanted $30,000 to move a piano. So you can't have that. We're going to fix it up."

He floated the idea of honoring figures from outside the traditional performing arts realm, including Luciano Pavarotti, Elvis Presley, and Babe Ruth. Pavarotti was previously honored in 2001, though his family later requested Trump stop using his recordings at campaign rallies.

Beyond programming and honors, Trump raised concerns about the center’s management, alleging misused funds and poor maintenance. He described the facility as dirty and neglected, while his team characterized conditions inside the Kennedy Center as "filthy," with reports of "rats" and odors "like vomit." Staff members have pushed back against these claims, acknowledging some maintenance issues but disputing the severity of the descriptions.

Trump criticized the Kennedy Center’s 2019 expansion, a privately funded $250 million project that added rehearsal and performance spaces, gardens, classrooms, and an outdoor video wall. He dismissed these additions as "all this nonsense" and questioned how the money was spent. "Think of it: They got $250 million," he said. "I’m trying to figure out where they spent it. Somebody made a lot of money, that I can tell you."

He also proposed physical renovations to the center, including covering exposed I-beams with marble or granite, despite acknowledging that marble may not be an ideal outdoor material. "I think the I-beams should be covered with some incredible stone—probably marble, but marble’s a bad outdoor stone, but looks better than granite. But it should be covered. And we’ll do that."