President Donald Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close for two years to allow for extensive renovations.
Trump said that the move is pending approval by the center’s board, which last year elected him chair.
Trump said on social media that he determined the closure, slated for July 4, “will produce a much faster and higher quality result” as he seeks to rebuild the complex.
“This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before.”
Donald Trump
He added that financing is “fully in place.” Trump’s announcement comes as the nation’s preeminent arts institution contends with a flood of cancellations. It also comes days after the premiere of “Melania,” a documentary of the first lady.
Trump has made reshaping the Washington institution a priority in his second term, and in December his handpicked board of trustees added his name to the building, leading to a wave of artists pulling out of performances.
Leading performing arts groups have pulled out of appearances at the Kennedy Center, most recently, composer Philip Glass, who announced his decision to withdraw his Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” because he said that the values of the center today are in “direct conflict” with the message of the piece.
Last month, the Washington National Opera announced that it will move performances away from the Kennedy Center in another high-profile departure following Trump’s takeover of the US capital’s leading performing arts venue.
Kennedy Center Renovation Decried
The sudden decision to shutter and reconstruct the Kennedy Center is sparking blowback as Trump disrupts the popular venue, which began as a national cultural center but Congress renamed as a “living memorial” to President John F. Kennedy in 1964, in the aftermath of the President’s death. Opened in 1971, it is open year-round as a public showcase for the arts, including the National Symphony Orchestra.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, the Ohio Democrat and ex-officio trustee of the center’s board, Beatty said that once again Trump “has acted with total disregard for Congress,” which allocates funds to the center.
She questioned what comes next for the artists and the building itself.
“Let’s be clear: remodeling the premises will not restore the Kennedy Center to what it was. A return to artistic independence will.
“America’s artists are rejecting this attempted takeover, and the administration knows it.”
Joyce Beatty
Beatty sued in December, arguing that “only Congress has the authority to rename the Kennedy Center.”
Late last year, Trump drew sharp opposition from members of Congress, and some Kennedy family members as he announced his plan to rename the building; erecting his name on the building’s main front ahead of that of Kennedy.
Kerry Kennedy, a niece of John F. Kennedy, said in a social post on X at the time that she will remove Trump’s name herself with a pickax when his term ends.
Another family member, Maria Shriver, said at the time that it is “beyond comprehension that this sitting President has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” her uncle.
“It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”
Maria Shriver
Trump’s efforts to leave his aesthetic stamp on Washington have extended beyond the Kennedy Center.
He demolished the East Wing of the White House and launched a massive $400 million ballroom project, is actively pursuing building a triumphal arch on the other side the Arlington Bridge from the the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary, and has plans for Washington Dulles International Airport.
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