Donald Trump has announced that Ric Grenell, the longtime Republican foreign policy adviser who oversaw far-reaching changes at the Kennedy Center that led many artists to leave the performing arts venue, will be replaced by Matt Floca, the center’s vice president of operations.
Trump made the announcement on social media that he had replaced Grenell and thanked him for the “excellent job he has done.” Floca was photographed in December personally overseeing the addition of Trump’s name to the center’s facade. Grenell’s departure comes as the Kennedy Center prepares to close this summer for a two-year renovation.
Earlier in the day, as U.S. forces remain in combat with Iran, Trump shared renderings for the renovation of what he called the “new and highly improved TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER.”
Grenell, long known for his hyper-aggressive confrontations with journalists and political rivals on Twitter and then on X, served as US ambassador to Germany and then acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term. He was appointed despite having no previous artistic experience.
Grenell was a central player in Trump’s push to dramatically overhaul the Kennedy Center following the president’s return to office. After largely ignoring the center during his first term, Trump made it a focal point in his war on “woke” culture. He ousted the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of directors that voted to rename the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change that scholars and lawmakers say should be initiated by Congress.
More recently, Trump’s name was physically added to the building’s facade.
The fallout from the arts community was swift and intense, with notable musicals, such as Hamilton, canceling performances. Actor Issa Rae and author Louise Penny also pulled out of appearances, while consultants including musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming quit.
Last week, National Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Jean Davidson stepped down to lead the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
The place became a kind of extension of Trump’s White House during his second term. The president was instrumental in convincing FIFA president Gianni Infantino to hold the World Cup draw there in December. A few days later, Trump himself hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, the first for a president.
A source “familiar with White House thinking” told CNN that Trump blames Grenell for doing a poor job managing the Kennedy Center’s publicity during his tenure. The president apparently blames Grenell for artists who canceled appearances after Trump named himself chairman of the center’s board of directors and then added his name to the center’s exterior wall, despite lacking congressional approval to rename the memorial to his slain predecessor.
Grenell emphasized what he called “common sense” programming, with the goal of steering the Kennedy Center toward events that would attract a broad audience and not lose money. But his actions drew criticism from many Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Grenell was rumored to have been in the running to be Trump’s second secretary of state, after he negotiated a limited economic deal between Serbia and Kosovo in 2020 that the president falsely described as ending the war between the two former Yugoslav regions that ended decades earlier.
As freelance journalist Jacqueline Sweet reported a week after the 2024 election, Grenell deleted more than 6,371 of his old Twitter posts, now
According to Floca’s LinkedIn page, he joined the Kennedy Center in January 2024, during the Biden administration.
A news release from the center at the time described him as “a seasoned facilities management professional with experience in construction management and an appreciation of whole building design principles.”
