WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has appointed Fox News personalities Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo to the Kennedy Center board, completing his transformation of the institution’s leadership into a staunchly conservative body.
“We look forward to restoring the Center to Greatness, and ushering in America’s Golden Age,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, announcing their appointments on Friday.
Trump’s reshaping of the Kennedy Center has led several artists to sever ties with the institution. Most notably, the creators of the Broadway hit Hamilton recently withdrew from a scheduled run next year, citing concerns over the center’s direction. The decision drew criticism from the Kennedy Center’s interim president, Richard Grenell.
With these latest appointments, the traditionally bipartisan Kennedy Center board is now dominated by Trump loyalists. Ingraham and Bartiromo join a panel that includes second lady Usha Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and her mother, Cheri Summerall, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, country singer Lee Greenwood, former White House adviser Pamela Gross, and the spouses of major Trump donors and business allies.
Both new appointees are vocal supporters of the former president. Ingraham, host of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News, has promoted the controversial “great replacement” theory and spread misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines and the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Bartiromo, known for her interviews with Trump, has repeatedly amplified election fraud claims, some of which were cited in defamation lawsuits against Fox News.
Bartiromo was also the first to interview Trump following his 2020 election defeat, providing him a platform to push baseless claims about voter fraud without challenge.
As Trump continues to consolidate influence over key cultural and political institutions, his appointments to the Kennedy Center board underscore his broader effort to reshape public institutions in alignment with his political agenda.
