'Everything Turns Sour' at Kennedy Center: Expert Blames Trump's Anti-Midas Touch

During an interview with Slate's Mary Harris, The New Yorker’s Katy Waldman mentioned that everything is not progressing smoothly at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Since Donald Trump assumed control of the esteemed establishment in Washington D.C.,

In light of previous reports indicating that crowd-pleasing—and ticket-selling—performances such as the musical " Hamilton" have skipped out on showing up because of the president's interference, Waldman straightforwardly stated, " Everything is worse ."

Waldman highlighted Richard Grenell, whom Trump appointed to guide his vision for the Kennedy Center, pointing out a subsequent staff purge. He remarked, “I believe the way he dismissed or terminated employees has been rather ruthless. Additionally, many of his justifications have seemed ambiguous.” Waldman characterized this approach to handling personnel matters as "plowing ahead aggressively, launching attacks repeatedly without pause."

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When asked about conflicting reports from the Trump administration regarding the arts center, has proven to be a financial loss, She shared, “Based on my observations, it was thriving. The organization had funds and was functioning as intended before Trump’s era. This does not automatically imply that it consistently generated more income from its initiatives than the expenses incurred. However, since its earnings came not only from ticket sales but also through contributions and donations, it remained financially positive overall.”

With that in. mind, she added that financial difficulties are in the foreseeable future as ticket sales have collapsed.

“That’s an entirely separate aspect of the situation,” she clarified. “Regardless of whether things were going well or poorly under previous administrations, Trump seems to bring about a reverse Midas effect—now every issue has worsened.” She then continued, “Ticket sales aren’t just declining; donation drives have halted altogether. Artists are withdrawing their support as well. Every financial inflow source has either diminished significantly or completely stopped flowing.”

You can read the Slate interview here.

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