Donald Trump, walking the red carpet for the opening night performance of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center, again insisted that were it not for his federalizing of the National Guard, “Los Angeles would be burning to the ground right now.

While President Donald Trump's controversial takeover of the Kennedy Center grabbed headlines in Washington, his administration has taken an ax to arts funding far beyond the capital city. Trump's funding cuts have affected programs across the country after his administration began canceling National Endowment for the Arts grants last month.

The Kennedy Center disputed the relevance of the data, part of an analysis by employees, saying that it had started its annual subscription campaign later than usual.