They are the ominous photos that could spell the end of the Kennedy Center, one of America’s most beloved arts venues.
Donald Trump was pictured on Wednesday looking at images of a poster that appeared to say “Kennedy Center DEMOLIS[HED] while sitting in Air Force One. The words, in bright red letters, were atop an image which looked like an aerial view of the building in Washington, DC, which was opened in 1971 as a tribute to the late President John F. Kennedy.
On Thursday, the White House did not answer questions about the photo, but said in a statement: “For years, Democrats let the Kennedy Center rot. … As President Trump said last night, without his intervention, The Kennedy Center will inevitably continue to decline.”
Why would Trump want to destroy a site that for decades has not only honoured Kennedy and his legacy, but also given a platform to thousands of artists, musicians and performers? Because he can’t put his name on it.
In a fit of pique that would make a toddler stop and stare, Trump is apparently unwilling to salvage the building because he cannot brand his name on it.
“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina on Wednesday evening. “Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down. It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape. I’d like to be able to save it, but it’s going to take a lot of subsidy into the future…”
The building is in dire need of renovation and Congress has allocated $257m to restore it. Yet Trump won’t release the money unless his name appears on the venue. It shows in total clarity how Trump is putting his petty, personal grievances ahead of any sense of a greater good.
Workers prepare scaffolding to remove lettering from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in June (Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)The loss of the Kennedy Center would be devastating to not just Washington but to the US and to artists worldwide. The building was envisioned by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1955, before JFK himself took over the fundraising efforts until his assassination in 1963, after which it was recast as a tribute to him and the arts. It has several stages, welcomes two million visitors a year, and more than 260 performing artists have been awarded the annual Kennedy Center Honors, including dozens of A-list stars.
Its British equivalent would be something like the National Theatre, the Barbican Centre and the Royal Opera House rolled into one.
All that was lost on Trump when he began his second term last year and made slapping his name on the building one of his pet projects. He essentially mounted a crusade against the centre, stacking its board with loyalists.
Last December, the board voted to rename the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center – in recognition of the role he played in getting $257m Congress awarded to the site for the renovation.
To be clear, the Kennedy Center urgently needed the money and videos circulating on social media showed pieces of the ceiling collapsing. But the prospect of a new name for the site drew an angry response from the Kennedy family, including Kerry Kennedy, daughter of JFK’s brother, Robert F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968.
She said: “President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer. President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy’s”.
The matter ended up in court after a lawsuit from Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH), and in May, a judge ruled the renaming was illegal. In fact, it could only be decided by Congress, which authorised the creation of the Kennedy Center and its name, said Judge Christopher Cooper.
The “Trump” letters were removed, but rather than show off the bare wall, the Kennedy Center obscured the view with scaffolding and tarps, which are still in place. In August, the venue’s board vowed to put Trump’s name on the building in a new text: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump”.
But Cooper ruled that was “linguistic semantics” and blocked the move alongside the another proposed option, “President Donald J. Trump Plaza”.
The impasse led to more anger from the Kennedy family, with Kerry Kennedy telling CNN that it was “public corruption” and that Trump was taking the centre “hostage”. Maria Shriver, another of Robert F. Kennedy’s nieces, called Trump “small minded”.
“It seems that this man will not rest until his name is permanently connected to the name of a great president, whose memory this building was dedicated to,” she said on social media.
The fate of the Kennedy Center now hangs in the balance, and an internal report has revealed that it could close within days and go into bankruptcy. In perhaps the most ironic twist of all, the centre is facing $22m in debt after ticket sales cratered in the past 12 months.
Patrons stayed away and performers cancelled shows, including the hit musical Hamilton, which ended its run early because of Trump’s intervention.
With House Republicans having left already for an extended break – they will not be back before the midterms in November – there seems little chance that Congress will come to the Kennedy Center’s rescue.
With a breathtaking level of spite, Trump apparently wants to knock the whole thing down – just because he didn’t get his way.
Key context
Lawyers working to keep the Kennedy Center open and Trump’s name off its façade submitted new evidence on Thursday, citing Trump’s comments about tearing it down and the photo that appeared to hint at its possible demolition. An emergency hearing on the lawsuit is expected after the performing arts centre’s board, including Trump and his appointees, voted this week to close the venue for up to two years for a $257m renovation project. New barriers were visible outside the building on Wednesday. The board said on Thursday that this was not in violation of a court order limiting its ability to shut, and that a Kennedy Center official had closed the building on Wednesday for a week of emergency repairs.Hence then, the article about the picture that shows how petty trump really is was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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