WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump cast the Kennedy Center, one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions, as mismanaged and in disrepair, as he visited the iconic venue as its new chairman and vowed to work with Congress to restore it to a place of prominence.

Trump toured the center and spoke at a board meeting on Monday, highlighting how he and his allies are moving to reshape a centerpiece of Washington’s art scene after dismissing its prior leadership. Critics have said Trump’s moves are politically motivated and aimed at punishing an institution with which he has long had a contentious relationship.

Trump, though, accused the prior leadership of improper spending on the facility and suggested — without offering evidence — that it had not been adequately maintained, poking at David Rubenstein, its former chairman.

“We’re gonna fix it up,” Trump said. “Bring it into more modern times, a lot of money has been given to it, and the money has not been properly spent.”

“I’m so surprised, because, you know, I know the person who was in charge of it, and he’s a good man,” he said, appearing to refer to Rubenstein. “I never realized this was in such bad shape.”

The president said he intended to work with Congress to “save this structure.”

Trump appeared to repeatedly criticize the center’s $250 million expansion project, a mixed-use space that was designed for rehearsals, workshops and exhibitions. Trump questioned “the big cubes that they have outside that block the view” and whether underground space would be utilized.

“Maybe we close up some of the work that’s been done and built,” Trump said. “It was done terribly.”

Trump last month purged the institution’s board to stock it entirely with individuals aligned with his worldview, part of a broader effort to put his stamp on Washington’s political and cultural organizations. That move has sparked backlash from the art world, with prominent figures including actress Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens canceling planned performances, and the hit musical “Hamilton” scrapping an upcoming run.

“I never liked ‘Hamilton’ very much, and I never liked it, but we are going to have some really good shows,” he said, adding that “Les Misérables,” the popular Broadway musical about the French Revolution, would come to the venue. “I would say this, come here and watch it and you’ll see over a period of time, it’ll improve.”

Trump has justified his takeover of the center as a response to its artistic decisions, claiming its programming was politicized. Trump said there would be “no more drag shows, or other anti-American propaganda — only the best,” in a social-media post in February.

Those moves were a jolt to one of the capital’s most venerable institutions, which hosts a wide array of cultural programming, including theater, opera, ballet, orchestral and chamber music performances and is the residence for the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera.

It has a long legacy of bipartisan governance but the current board is staffed exclusively with Trump allies, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and second lady Usha Vance.

A video of the second lady and her husband, Vice President JD Vance, being greeted by boos at an event last week drew condemnation from Ric Grenell, the presidential envoy for special missions, who was tapped as interim executive director.

Trump’s changes have sparked worries about fundraising. Rubenstein was the largest individual contributor in the Kennedy Center’s history. It had a $268 million operating budget in 2024, according to a press release in January, with $45 million in federal appropriations.

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