'Not getting the donations': DC insider notes Kennedy Center decline after Trump takeover

A longtime insider who has been at the center of the Washington, D.C. social scene for decade claims Donald Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center is destroying the venerable institution as ticket sales dry up, artists cancel and locals vow to stay home.

In an interview with the Guardian's David Smith as part of a look at the MAGA takeover of the nation's capital, the Washington Post's Sally Quinn, lamented the sad new state of affairs in the city and railed at what is happening with the Kennedy Center where it has already been reported that ticket sales have plummeted.

With Smith writing, "Trump has seized control of the Kennedy Center, the crown jewel of the city’s performing arts scene, installing himself as chair and loyalist Ric Grenell as president. Numerous artists and producers have cancelled shows, including Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical Hamilton, while ticket sales reportedly dropped roughly 50% week-over-week after Trump announced his takeover," Quinn, the wife of the late legendary Washington Post managing editor Ben Bradlee, piled on.

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“They’re being very imaginative in their atrocities. They trashed the Kennedy Center and threw everybody out and put Laura Ingraham on the board. The Kennedy Center has been so much a part of the city for so long and suddenly it’s gone," she explained.

She then added, "They’ve lost in the first couple of weeks 50% of their ticket sales. They’re not getting the donations they used to get. All kinds of acts are cancelling and people I know say they won’t ever set foot in that place.”

Quinn then noted the overall change in D.C. with Trump and his team in control.

"It is a one industry town, and basically what they’re doing is destroying the government, which is what Trump said he would do," she noted before reporting, "Even Trump supporters are stunned. I know from some of my friends on the Hill that Republican senators and congressmen are freaking out, too, because they’re hearing from their constituents.”

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