A former official at the Kennedy Center detailed the "bizarre moves" and "cronyism" they witnessed that led to President Donald Trump's decision to close the center for two years for renovations.
Josef Palermo, who worked at the Kennedy Center for 10 months as a curator of visual arts, wrote in an essay for The Atlantic that the Kennedy Center staff knew the closure was about more than fixing issues with the physical structure. Instead, the institution's finances had become closely wedded to Trump himself. For instance, someone could purchase a $2 million box at the theatre and get a private reception with the president afterward. The center also began selling sponsorships for the first time since it opened in 1971, Palermo noted, and even renamed a donor's lounge after a CEO who was pardoned by Trump after being convicted of defrauding investors.
"Trump had come in promising that 'for the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!'" Palermo wrote. "On the inside, my colleagues and I instead saw cronyism, incompetence, and a series of bizarre moves that would lead to the Kennedy Center going dark."
Palermo also noted that Richard Grenell, a former Trump diplomat who was appointed to lead the Kennedy Center, seemed like a leader who had checked out. Grenell never held a staff meeting and refused to enforce the center's return-to-office on himself or his inner circle, Palermo wrote. Grenell has denied both accounts.
Trump's whiplash style of governing also caused issues for the Kennedy Center's finances, Palermo noted. For instance, staff had to reschedule concerts when Trump abruptly announced that the FIFA World Cup Final Draw would take place at the Kennedy Center.
On Honors night, Palermo described how security issues created "an anarchic scene in which I saw old men plead for water and women in ballgowns argue with catering staff for cans of Diet Coke."
"The institution’s spending priorities seemed dubious," Palermo noted. "The roof has been leaking for years, and the willow trees in the River Plaza outside the Grand Foyer were visibly rotting, and yet the high-priority renovations made to the building involved adding gold gilding to the chandelier of the presidential box in the Opera House."