New CEO Appointed to Trump Kennedy Center

Richard Grenell is leaving the post after one year.

The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Dec. 21, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump appointed a new CEO to the Trump Kennedy Center in Washington on March 13.

Matt Floca, who served as the vice president of operations, will soon take the top spot from Ric Grenell, who was appointed to serve as the interim executive director for the institution just over a year ago.

“Matt has helped us achieve tremendous progress in bringing the Center to the highest level of Excellence!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday.

Floca will need to be approved by the board until he officially enters the role.

The president thanked Grenell for coordinating “various elements of the Center during the transition period.”

“THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER will be, at its completion, the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the World!” Trump wrote.

Trump, who appointed himself to the chairman of the venue’s Board of Trustees after taking office in early 2025, announced plans to renovate the iconic performing arts center on Feb. 1.

“A Complete Reconstruction of THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER will begin after the July 4th Celebration, with a scheduled Grand Re-Opening in approximately two years,” Trump wrote in the Friday post.

The decision to revamp the center was made after what Trump said was a yearlong review of the center involving contractors, musical experts, art institutions, and other advisers and consultants.

The president said the center was in rough condition, both financially and structurally, for many years.

Financing for the new center is “fully in place,” he said. Trump did not say how much the renovation would cost.

Trump has criticized the center for hosting drag shows and other events he said were inconsistent with traditional American values.

Trump removed the board’s chairman, David Rubenstein, in February 2025, along with every single board member that he said did not share his vision “for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”

The president hand-picked an entirely new board, which consists of prominent individuals and government officials including Vice President JD Vance’s wife Usha Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and “Fox Business” anchor Maria Bartiromo.

The new board in December 2025 then unanimously voted to rename the institution the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

“The board is a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country, and I was surprised by it. I was honored by it,” Trump said.

After the overhaul, some entertainers have rejected performing at the iconic venue, with high-performing shows like Hamilton pulling out of its plans to tour there in 2026.

“Our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,” Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller said at the time.