Internal emails and documents show how the Kennedy Center’s art holdings came under review after President Trump became chairman, according to a New York Times report. Richard Grenell, who was named the first director during that period, told staff to return donated pieces, including gifts from foreign countries given in honor of President John F. Kennedy.
Grenell sent an email on Oct. 20, 2025, to curator Josef Palermo that said: “You can definitely start sending stuff back to the countries who donated it now. Figure out everything you don’t want and just send it back A.S.A.P.” The Times said the documents indicate the goal was to make room for works selected with input from Trump patrons.
Kennedy Center officials circulated a proposal late last year stating that de-accession of artwork “may include disposal via the following means: return to country of origin, transfer or exchange with another institution, public sale or destruction.” Center officials have said there is no active plan to dump the collection.
Emails and memos outline a return of gifts and a new collectors group
Palermo said in an interview that it was his job to take orders and try to implement them. He added that Grenell told him that “the president wants all new art” for the center. The documents obtained by the Times show Palermo helping design a plan to bring Trump-friendly philanthropists onto a new “Collectors Council.”
The memo on that council listed among its roles the de-accessioning of “outdated or inappropriate artworks” and their replacement with pieces that reflect “shared American values.” Membership would cost donors up to $100,000, the documents said.
Grenell said in an interview that he did not discuss art with the president. “What I instructed Josef to do was go back to every gifted piece of art and tell the giver, ‘Thank you very much, we’re returning the art,’” he said. In a later interview, he said his focus was on works that needed repair or restoration because the Kennedy Center could not pay for that work.
Workers this month removed “Blue,” a large outdoor sculpture given by artist Joel Shapiro, without a public announcement or stated reason, the Times reported. Some staff and former officials said they thought Trump disliked it, citing his past comments that much modern art is “a con.”
A White House official said Trump did not know about the plan to take “Blue” down. The work was later sold to David Rubenstein, the former chairman, who was removed after Trump took over.
The documents listed more than 20 works on the grounds and inside the building as targets for removal. Fifteen of those were in the African Lounge, which opened in 1977 and was later shut and locked. The Times reported that textiles, other art, and a carved wood sculpture from Ghana that marked Africans’ grief after Kennedy’s death were taken out with no public explanation.
Asked about the removal plan, the center said the works remained “fully safeguarded with no planned or imminent changes” and that the collection “has been comprehensively cataloged.” Officials said the African Lounge pieces are still being kept at the center and would not allow them to be viewed. Palermo was laid off in March, the same month Grenell departed. Unsigned gold-plated reliefs later went up in the Reach, a newer wing of the campus.
The images include Trump with his fist raised after the 2024 assassination attempt, Elon Musk, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The center’s leadership has faced controversy over its direction, as the Kennedy Center shutdown has drawn criticism from figures like Kerry Kennedy. The artist is believed to be Trish Duggan, a major Trump donor. The center declined to comment, and Duggan did not reply to requests for comment, the Times reported.
Published: Sep 21, 2026 09:30 am