‘Just not true:' Former Kennedy Center president responds to Trump's allegations of mismanagement

The Kennedy Center has been getting extra attention this year, but not because of performances on its stage.

Now, its former president is speaking about the changes made to the D.C. cultural institution she once led — and accusations that she mismanaged that institution.

In February, the Kennedy Center's board of trustees, made up of members appointed by President Donald Trump, voted to remove billionaire David Rubenstein as chair of the board and replace him with Trump.

The board, featuring 14 new members appointed by Trump after becoming chair, then voted to remove longtime president Deborah Rutter. She had already announced a planned departure at the end of the year when she was removed.

Then, weeks ago at a Kennedy Center board dinner at the White House, Trump criticized the former leadership and accused it of mismanagement.

"The previous leadership wasted millions and millions of dollars and handed us a budget deficit of $26 million. Can you believe that?" Trump said at the dinner on May 19. "If I told you it was $25 million under balance now for the fiscal year?"

In her first interview since those comments, Rutter spoke with News4's Tommy McFly at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in D.C. and addressed the allegations.

"I don't know what information he was given," Rutter said of Trump's comments. "And I don't know anything that has happened since Feb. 12 to May 19. I didn't actually watch that. The good news is I was on an airplane, so I didn't actually watch that at the time. But it's just not true."

Rutter said, when she left, the year's budget was "a strong and healthy one," on track for meeting some of the Kennedy Center's goals and in excess of other goals.

"I don't actually know what he was saying, and I can't determine or guess what kind of information he was given. It's just not true from what was going on on Feb. 12."

Trump also accused the Kennedy Center of having "false funds" and "fictitious funds." The interim Kennedy Center president who replaced Rutter, Richard Grenell, called it "criminal."

"We're going to refer this to the U.S. attorney's office here," Grenell said at the same dinner. "We're lucky enough to have the attorney general on the board of the Kennedy Center who heard all the details today. She heard the details. And this is unacceptable in America."

Rutter said in her 47 years of nonprofit management experience, she's worked very closely with her board, and there was full transparency with them during that time.

That was regardless of who made up the board, she said.

"What's so fascinating about the job that I had running the nonprofit piece of this is that I worked with appointees from the president of the United States," Rutter said. "So, I inherited a blend of George W. Bush and Obama [appointees]. Then I had a short period where we had just Obama appointees. And then we had Obama and Trump appointees. Then I had only Trump appointees."

It was only in the past year that there were six appointees from former President Joe Biden, "and the balance, the other 30, were all Trump appointees," Rutter said.

Her nearly five decades of nonprofit management work also means she's over the learning curve that comes with that method of funding.

"I fear that perhaps there's a misunderstanding of what the nonprofit construct is and how you manage your funds. It's pretty straightforward if you've been doing it, and you've been trained to do it, but if you come into it new, it takes a little while to get used to."

News4 reached out to the White House for comment. The White House referred News4 to the Kennedy Center, which as of this writing has not responded. News4 has also reached out to Grenell to offer him an opportunity for a sit-down interview, and has not heard back.

Watch the full interview with former Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter below: