Donors race to save Kennedy Center treasures as gold-leaf Trump and Musk portraits go up

A former Kennedy Center curator says his “heart really sank” when he walked into a room of gifts from African nations that had been stripped bare in a single day, and donors fear for the center’s irreplaceable artwork as President Donald Trump’s controversial overhaul continues.Josef Palermo, who was laid off in March and has since become a whistleblower, told CNN the center’s Africa Lounge was cleared out in one day. The room had housed dozens of works donated by African nations, including 12-foot double doors carved from a 700-year-old tree in Nigeria.“Walking into it when it was hollowed out and darkened and my heart really sank,” Palermo said. “The room was completely stripped bare.”The room is now being used for storage, and the Kennedy Center says the art remains on site and that preservation efforts are underway.Palermo has also said he was told last year to remove all of the...