Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell exits, replaced by Matt Floca

President Trump announced on social media Friday that former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, whom Trump appointed to head the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts more than a year ago, has resigned. Grenell will be replaced by Matt Floca, vice president of facilities operations at the center.

The only constant at the Kennedy Center since Trump dismissed the center’s board of directors and appointed himself president in early February of last year has been change. A week later, amid mass artist departures including Shonda Rhimes and Renée Fleming, Trump appointed his close ally Grenell as interim executive director, a position Grenell has held until now.

“Ric Grenell has done an excellent job helping coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done.” Trump posted on Truth SocialHe added that after an impending two-year closure for renovations, the center “will be the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the world when completed.”

News of the center’s imminent closure came as a surprise to employees and arts fans still reeling from Trump’s announcement late last year that the board had decided to rename the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center, prompting a new wave of performance cancellations that included one by composer Philip Glass. Washington National Opera also announced it would leave the center in early January.

Grenell’s tenure was marked by controversy at every turn, and Grenell met it with combative defiance. He often criticizes artists who criticize the center’s decisions. He was also known for not giving interviews to the press that he deemed hostile, instead going on the record. only to right-leaning news organizations.

The Kennedy Center did not respond to a request for comment on Grenell’s departure.