Washington National Opera bows out of Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington National Opera announced Friday that it will move performances away from the Kennedy Center in another high-profile departure following President Donald Trump’s takeover of the U.S. capital’s leading performing arts venue.

The opera said it will seek to end its affiliation with the Kennedy Center through an “amicable transition” and will return to operating independently. It cited financial constraints imposed after Trump fired the Kennedy Center’s board and installed allies to oversee it.

The opera will reduce its spring season and move performances to other venues “to ensure fiscal prudence and fulfill its obligations for a balanced budget,” the opera said in a statement.

The statement did not mention Trump or the decision by the Kennedy Center’s new board to add the president’s name to the venue. Though Congress still formally calls it the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the building’s exterior and website now refer to it as the Trump Kenne...