When red and blue fireworks bathe the capital city skyline in a dazzling canvas of light this 4th of July, patrons of the arts can celebrate another milestone: The Kennedy Center is on its way to operating in the black as the Trump overhaul of the national theater continues.
Before the pyrotechnics begin, the president will sign his One Big Beautiful Bill into law on the White House lawn. On the 155th page of that mammoth bill, tucked between rescissions of low-carbon transportation grants and provisions to end environmental review fees, is an appropriation for $250,000,000 to renovate the marquee center for the arts.
Republicans arent the typical advocates of the arts. However, this president is; a White House official previously told RealClearPolitics that the money was a specific request from Trump to lawmakers. And it isnt just public funds.
Trump and first lady Melania hosted a VIP reception at the Kennedy Center last month to raise funds for renovations. Gold sponsorship cost $2 million and earned a donor premier seats, a photo opportunity with the president, and an invitation to a VIP reception after that evenings premier of “Les Misérables.” Silver sponsorships, meanwhile, ran for $100,000.
On the red carpet at the end of the evening, the president boasted to the press that the event earned a cool $10 million in private donations. Now, a source with direct knowledge tells RCP that the Kennedy Center 4th of July celebration “has broken all previous fundraising records to date.”
Their Independence Day fundraising has yielded nearly $700,000 for the historic opera house – $25,000 more than ever before. All of this is unusual, or at least unexpected. When Trump fired the old board and installed loyalists as trustees earlier this year, protests followed.
Despite those demonstrations, so has the money.
Finances are not likely to be top of mind, though, for the crowds that filter into Kennedy Center grounds for a better view of the fireworks Friday night. Instead, the public, not just the normal beltway patrons, will focus on what is being advertised as “free, patriotic fun for all.” The National Symphony Orchestra will be simulcast. Concessions available. The views, spectacular.
“The Kennedy Center is the perfect place to watch the Fourth of July fireworks in Washington, D.C,” said Ambassador Richard Grenell, the president of the center. “And this year our celebration of Americas independence will be bigger and better than ever before.”
It is a unique chapter in the ongoing populist experiment. Trump returned to power promising trade wars and border control, not a revival of the arts. But the White House insists that returning the Kennedy Center to glory is an “essential” part of his “vision of restoring greatness to our nations capital.”
A source familiar with operations of the theater told RCP that not only will the center “not be operating in the red anymore” on Independence Day, but moving forward, it will offer “an experience for patrons of all financial means.”
Philip Wegmann is White House correspondent for RealClearPolitics.
