Gay Trump administration Ric Grenell claimed his X account was hacked over the weekend by leftist enemies intent on undermining his bosss promise for a new golden age in the arts at the Kennedy Center.On Friday, the Washington National Opera (WNO) announced theyre leaving the once-revered cultural institution due to poor ticket sales and attendance after President Trumps takeover of the institution last year. Related Ric Grenell is under Senate investigation for corrupt dealings at the Kennedy Center The next day, Grenell said that he fired the opera company not the other way around and claimed he had already announced it in posts that were deleted in a hack.The Trump Kennedy Center has made the decision to end the EXCLUSIVE partnership with the Washington Opera so that we can have the flexibility and funds to bring in operas from around the world and across the U.S., Grenell wrote on X. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today We have spent millions of dollars to support the Washington Operas exclusivity, and yet they were still millions of dollars in the hole and getting worse.A resolution to leave the Kennedy Center was approved by the operas board of trustees on Friday afternoon. They said in a statement that the company would seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity.I am deeply saddened to leave the Kennedy Center, Francesca Zambello, who has been the operas artistic director for 14 years, said in a statement reported by The New York Times. I have been proud to be affiliated with a national monument to the human spirit, a place that has long served as an inviting home for our ever-growing family of artists and opera lovers.In November, Zambello broached the possibility of leaving the center as ticket sales dried up. The director said the Trump administrations policies had shattered the confidence of donors and resulted in a 40 percent drop in ticket revenues. If we cannot raise enough money, or sell enough tickets in there, we have to consider other options, she told The Guardian. The final straw for the opera company may have been Trump renaming the living memorial to President John F. Kennedy after himself in December.The WNO was a founding arts organization at the Kennedy Center, first taking the Opera House stage in 1971, the year the center opened. The company entered its current affiliation agreement with the center in 2011, when high attendance wasnt enough to keep the company financially solvent. The WNO ceded some programming and management decisions to the center in exchange for financial support. That decision is coming back to haunt them under the weight of Trump and Grenells politically charged control.The company has a new website and says its lining up alternative venues around Washington for its planned spring season. How those shows are paid for may hinge on what happens to the WNOs $30 million endowment, which is already a matter of dispute. Grenell will doubtless use it as leverage in negotiating the opera companys exit from the center. But the opera companys departure is far from the only drama unfolding at the Kennedy Center. Grenell is already under investigation for corruption at the beleaguered cultural institution.The Left continues to try and silence people they dont agree with, Grenell said in his post claiming a hack and the pursuit of its perpetrators.But they will never succeed, he added, a tragic heros prediction if there ever was one.The beleaguered Kennedy Center director soldiers on through trials and tribulations. pic.twitter.com/i5fg9adXhm Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 10, 2026Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.