Nearly nine months after President Donald Trump installed himself as chair of America’s flagship arts venue, The Kennedy Center, 43 percent of tickets for a typical production are going unsold. Of roughly 143,000 seats available from early September to mid-October, more than 50,000 sat empty, according to a Washington Post analysis. The free fall marks one of the steepest drops in recent memory and threatens the institution’s financial core.
Behind the slump is a perfect storm of politics and programming. Trump’s takeover sparked boycotts from artists and patrons, transforming a traditionally nonpartisan brand into a cultural lightning rod. “These numbers are likely more dire than they appear, as they don’t account for canceled productions or shows moved into smaller theaters due to weak ticket sales,” a former staffer told the Post. A current staff member added that the downturn is not simply about prices or repertoire, saying the slide feels “directly tied to the new regime’s leadership shift and the broader political climate.”
That sentiment is showing up at the box office. “I’ve heard from ticket buyers who say they’re choosing not to attend because of what the Kennedy Center now represents,” the staffer said, calling the brand “polarizing,” a word rarely associated with the nation’s performing arts showpiece. The fallout is visible on stage and off. After Trump remade the board and allies such as Richard Grenell moved into key roles, marquee productions peeled away. Hamilton canceled an upcoming engagement, removing what would have been a reliable sell-out run. Other high-profile acts either withdrew or reshuffled plans, citing a politicized atmosphere.
The headline figure, 43 percent unsold, may actually understate the damage. The Post’s tally does not cleanly capture the growing number of complimentary tickets handed out to paper the house. Several employees say they have received more freebies than in past seasons as management scrambles to mask empty rows. “All in all, it is not a sustainable situation,” one staff member said.
The risk extends beyond this season’s ledgers. Michael Kaiser, the center’s former president, warns the slump could strangle fundraising. “The vast majority of donors are ticket buyers who are anxious to enhance their relationships with the organization by making contributions in addition to paying for their tickets,” he noted, adding that depressed attendance “bodes unfavorably for future fundraising revenue.” During his tenure, he said, the center counted about 40,000 individual donors, a base that underwrote much of its success. If those patrons drift away, the hole gets deeper.
Trump’s camp has pitched the overhaul as a common-sense course correction, promising to end “woke” programming and reconnect with mainstream audiences. The results so far, measured in empty seats, tell a different story. Fall 2025 is tracking worse than even the early post-pandemic season, and subscription sales have slumped alongside single-ticket revenue. Across the Opera House, Concert Hall, and Eisenhower Theater, the trend line is the same, fewer bodies in seats, more red ink on the books.
For a venue built to be the nation’s cultural living room, the political turn has come with a high price. If audiences keep staying home, the Kennedy Center will face a painful choice, reverse course to rebuild trust, or keep leaning into a brand that is scaring off the very people who once filled its halls.
