After demolishing the historic East Wing to make room for a massive ballroom and redecorating the White House with acres of marble and gold-plated tchotchkes, Donald Trump has his sights set on refurbishing the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The President announced on Sunday night (Feb. 1) that the arts center that he recently slapped his name on will close for two years to undergo construction and renovation. In one of his late night Truth Social posts, the real estate mogul who has been focused on gilding Washington with his signature ostentatious style wrote, “The Trump Kennedy Center will close on July 4th, 2026, in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex.”
Though he said “financing is completed and fully in place,” Trump did not reveal any details about the construction project or what the budget is, even as he lamented what he called the shopworn state of the building. Saying that the decision came after input from many unnamed “Highly Respected Experts,” he wrote that the, “tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years,” will be transformed into a “World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before.”
Trump added that the closure is subject to approval by the board, which last year he stacked with loyalist after firing members appointed by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, a panel that then promptly installed him as chairman. In addition, without going through the appropriate congressional approval process, the former reality TV star also added his name to the center honoring the nation’s slain 35th president.
For more than half a century, the Kennedy Center was a cultural mecca for D.C., hosting countless concerts, plays, operas and performances by musicians, poets and orchestras. But between the name change and the board revamp, the Kennedy Center has struggled since Trump’s second term began, with a reported dip in ticket sales and a raft of artist cancellations in protest of the Trump revamp.
The most recent cancellation came from legendary minimalist composer Philip Glass, who pulled a planned debut of an Abraham Lincoln-inspired symphony last week out of protest of Trump’s actions. In addition, soprano and actress Renée Fleming, a National Medal of Arts winner and 2023 Kennedy Center Honors recipient, cancelled her planned May performances with the National Symphony Orchestra over what she deemed “a scheduling conflict” after resigning last year from her role as an artistic advisor-at-large to the Center.
The pair joined an increasingly long list of artists, shows and events that have pulled the plug since the Trump takeover, a roster that includes a production of Hamilton, shows by the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Washington National Opera (which is leaving the Center after more than 55 years), performers Issa Rae, Béla Fleck, Rhiannon Giddens, Low Cut Connie, Sonia De Los Santos, Kristy Lee, Chuck Redd, Stephen Schwartz and a dozen more. In addition, the recently hired senior vice president of artistic programming, Kevin Couch, who was brought on to help book the Center, resigned after less than two weeks on the job with no explanation. Both the New York Times and Washington Post have reported that ticket sales have plummeted over the past year, with the Post saying that 43% of all tickets went unsold during a six week period last fall.
CNN reported that the growing artist boycott has “become untenable,” according to an anonymous source, who said that during his brief stint at the Center Couch “was frustrated because he was struggling to attract well-known artists.” It also reported that Kennedy Center staff learned about the shut-down from Trump’s post on Sunday.
According to Deadline, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill act, passed last year with no support from Democrats, set aside $257 million for renovations and maintenance on the Center that opened in 1971, though its unclear if that is the final budget for the Trump revamp.
At press time it was unclear if the renovation will include the suspension of the annual Kennedy Center Honors, which has been a D.C. tradition since 1978. In keeping with his spotlight-loving persona, Trump became the first sitting president to host the event when he took the stage in December to oversee a show whose honorees he took a hand in selection after refusing to attend the event during his first term.
Trump, who until last year had never attended a single show at the Kennedy Center in either of his terms, added that the shut-down is coming after a year-long review of the venue he previously disparaged as dilapidated and too “woke.” The Center underwent a major $250 million renovation and expansion in 2019 that Trump has also belittled, with the president saying in his Truth post that he’d consulted with unnamed contractors, musical experts, art institutions and other advisors and consultants to determine whether to close the venue during reconstruction or keep it partially open and operating over a longer stretch of time.
“I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. “In other words, if we don’t close, the quality of Construction will not be nearly as good, and the time to completion, because of interruptions with Audiences from the many Events using the Facility, will be much longer. The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result!”
JFK’s niece, journalist and former First Lady of California Maria Shriver, reacted to Trump’s announcement on X with barely concealed contempt and a heavy dose of sarcasm, writing, “Translation: It has been brought to my attention that due to the name change (but nobody’s telling me it’s due to the name change), but it’s been brought to my attention that entertainers are canceling left and right, and I have determined that since the name change no one wants to perform there any longer. I’ve determined that due to this change in schedule, it’s best for me to close this center down and rebuild a new center that will bear my name, which will surely get everybody to stop talking about the fact that everybody’s canceling… right?”
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