Kennedy Center closes as Trump ties renovation to restoring his name

The decision came hours after a federal judge blocked another attempt to add Donald Trump’s name to the Washington performing arts complex. Renovation work will not begin while the naming dispute remains before the courts.

The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump and largely composed of his appointees and allies, voted on September 15 to close its main building immediately, citing safety concerns and the need for major repairs.

The decision calls for the Washington performing arts venue to remain closed for up to two years as part of a planned $257 million renovation project. The board is chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump and is composed largely of his allies.

Shortly after the vote, Trump said on Truth Social that although the closure would take effect immediately, renovation and reconstruction would not begin until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rules in the ongoing dispute over the board’s efforts to add his name to the Kennedy Center.

“If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,” Trump wrote. He added that Justice Department attorneys would seek an expedited appeal and said that $17 million he had raised had been deposited into the Kennedy Center’s account “to keep it afloat.”

Earlier on September 15, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the board from placing Trump’s name on the building or renaming its grounds “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” Cooper ruled that memorial changes of that kind require congressional authorization.

The ruling followed an earlier legal dispute over the institution’s name. In May, Cooper ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center after it had been added to the building’s facade. The name was removed in June.

The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. It has long served as the home of the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera and is one of the principal performing arts institutions in the United States.

The board has said the building requires urgent repairs. Its closure adds another chapter to a period of major change at the institution, which has included changes in leadership and programming, cancellations by artists, the departure of resident organisations from the building and an ongoing legal battle over its name.