The National Symphony Orchestra is reportedly facing a severe financial crisis following the Trump administration’s overhaul of the Kennedy Center, largely due to a decrease in both donors and ticket sales.
The orchestra, which has partnered with the Kennedy Center since 1986, reached just three-quarters of its expected donations in 2025, and expects to earn only half the ticket sales it budgeted for in 2026. American University arts management program director Andrew Taylor told the outlet that the plunge in donor numbers and audience members is “fairly catastrophic” for the orchestra.
The Washington Post report comes after over a year of push-and-pull change for the performing arts center that houses the orchestra, as President Donald Trump has attempted to overhaul the facility and shift it from “woke” programming to the “GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture.” Several preservationists and Democrats have pushed back to maintain the center’s status quo, pushing the Kennedy Center into a year of limbo between the administration’s efforts and court-ordered setbacks.
After Trump announced in February that the facility would close for two years in July for major structural renovations, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) challenged the decision, along with the center’s move to change its name to the Trump-Kennedy Center, in court. Obama-appointee U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ultimately ruled in Beatty’s favor in May, blocking the closure and name change.
But Trump’s mark on the performing arts facility has led to an exodus of performers leaving the Kennedy Center for other venues. The Washington National Opera, which also had a decades-long partnership with the facility, left the center back in January. The National Symphony Orchestra’s executive director, Jean Davidson, also left the venue in March.
The sea change under the administration has also financially strained the National Symphony Orchestra as a whole, according to the outlet, pushing the group to add additional shows at alternate venues, such as the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia.
The outlet gave examples of declining ticket sales, pointing to a deficit from the September 2025 “Stayin’ Alive” performance, which was a Bee Gees tribute expected to pull in $238,000 from its two shows. The center only sold $26,730 worth of tickets to the performance, filling only 10% of the seats before they opted to comp tickets, according to the report.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment on the Washington Post‘s report.
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In July, an appeals court denied the Trump administration’s appeal in the name-change debate.
The Kennedy Center board is scheduled to meet on Thursday to vote on whether to close the facility for two years and how to do so if they choose to move forward with the renovations.