Richard Grenell is stepping down as president of the Kennedy Center, and honestly, it’s hard to be surprised given the absolute chaos that’s unfolded there over the past few months. The Trump ally, who oversaw massive changes at the iconic performing arts venue, announced his departure on Friday, with facilities manager Matt Floca set to take over the role.

Grenell’s exit comes at a pretty chaotic moment for the Kennedy Center. The institution is preparing to close this summer for a two-year renovation, and the fallout from Trump’s push to rebrand it as the “Trump Kennedy Center” has been nothing short of a disaster for the arts community. We’re talking major productions like “Hamilton” canceling performances, musicians like Ben Folds resigning, and high-profile artists including Issa Rae withdrawing from appearances altogether.

The whole situation represents a pretty stark departure from what the Kennedy Center used to represent. For decades, it was known as one of the few genuinely apolitical spaces in Washington, the kind of place where Supreme Court justices with completely opposite ideologies would hang out together at the opera. That all changed when Trump made the center a focal point in his campaign against “woke” culture during his second term. He fired the previous leadership, replaced them with a hand-picked board, and literally had his name added to the building’s facade.

Grenell’s approach focused on what he called “common sense” programming, basically trying to steer the venue toward events with broader appeal that wouldn’t lose money. But this strategy absolutely backfired with the arts community and Democrats on Capitol Hill. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse even released documents showing the Kennedy Center gave FIFA exclusive use of the facility at no cost while the venue was losing out on millions in potential revenue.

The center did claim it received $7.4 million to host the World Cup draw in December, including a $2.4 million FIFA donation, and Grenell said he raised $117 million last year. But the cancellations kept piling up, and eventually, Trump decided the building needed repairs anyway, so he announced a two-year closure starting after the Fourth of July.

Before leaving, Grenell warned staff about incoming budget cuts that would leave “skeletal teams” managing operations. Now it’s Matt Floca’s turn to navigate this mess. According to his LinkedIn profile, Floca joined the Kennedy Center in January 2024 during the Biden administration and has construction management and facilities experience from work with D.C. government agencies.

Whether Floca can help repair the Kennedy Center’s relationship with the arts world remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the institution’s brief stint as Trump’s personal cultural project has left some serious damage in its wake.