Former Kennedy Center President Responds to New Leadership's Allegations of Financial Mismanagement 

“I am deeply troubled by the false allegations regarding the management of the Kennedy Center,” Deborah Rutter shared in her statement 

Deborah Rutter served as the Kennedy Center’s president for a decade from 2014, but stepped down from the role as President Donald Trump worked to implement major leadership changes to the institution, including a new board.

Since Trump’s takeover, the new leadership claimed that the center has an operating deficit, with current Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell accusing the previous leadership of financial mismanagement and “fraud on previous donors,” according to the Washington Post. 

This also comes as a House committee has approved the Trump administration’s recent budget proposal calling for $257 million to be allocated to the Kennedy Center for capital repairs and other expenses — a figure that is around six times the amount it usually receives from the government. 

The last major renovation of the center was in 2019 as part of The REACH project — a $250 million expansion of the venue. 

“I don’t know where they spent it,” Trump said of the previous management. “They certainly didn’t spend it on wallpaper, carpet, or painting.”

“The former leadership built a broken budget with an operating deficit of 100 million dollars and a bottom-line deficit of 26 million dollars,” CFO Donna Arduin claimed. “The former leadership led Board members to believe there was a balanced budget when there was $26 million in false funds. Fiscal Year 25 budget was previously passed with $26M of fictitious funds … We have now truly balanced the budget.”

“Our great new CFO went through the '24 and '25 budgets of the Kennedy Center and found $26 million in phantom revenue, fake revenue,” Grenell added. “It’s criminal. We’re going to refer this to the U.S. attorney’s office.”

In response, Rutter has released a statement on her website denouncing their allegations and suggested that the current leadership is attempting to find a scapegoat for its own fiscal mismanagement. 

“I am deeply troubled by the false allegations regarding the management of the Kennedy Center being made by people without the context or expertise to understand the complexities involved in nonprofit and arts management, which has been my professional experience for 47 years,” she began. 

Rutter explained that during her tenure, the Finance, Audit, and Executive Committees of the Board comprising appointees from President Trump’s first term, “had full transparency into all financial transactions and decisions,” and that the Sustainability Fund she helped establish, held around $10 million to support the center’s current and future season’s revenue fluctuations.

“Following my departure from the Kennedy Center three and a half months ago, I have had no access to, nor knowledge of, its current financial situation,” she continued. “Perhaps those now in charge are facing significant financial gaps and are seeking to attribute them to past management, which would include the Board of Trustees, some of whom were appointed by President Trump, in his previous term. 

“This malicious attempt to distort the facts, which were consistently, transparently and readily available in professionally audited financial reports, recklessly disregards the truth,” she said. “I stand by my assertion that at the time of my departure, the Kennedy Center was fiscally sound, on track to balance its budget for the year, and positioned to grow its endowment significantly while serving as a beacon for free artistic expression and a place where everyone could belong.”