Donald Trump announced plans on Sunday to close the Kennedy Center for performances for about two years, what the president said was due to construction and renovation.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday, “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. Financing is completed, and fully in place! 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. America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump said that the closure is subject to approval of the board. Shortly after he took office for his second term, Trump fired board members appointed by Joe Biden and Barack Obama, ensuring that he would be elected chairman. His installed a loyalist, Ric Grenell, as its president.
But his announcement comes amid reports of slowed ticket sales and artist cancellations, with rows of empty seats. After the board of the center, which Trump now controls, decided to add his name to the arts institution, it spurred a new round of artist cancellations.
Just last week, composer Philip Glass pulled the planned debut of a Lincoln symphony to protest Trump’s leadership, and Renée Fleming backed out of a planned performance. The center recently touted he hiring Kevin Couch as the new senior vice president of artistic programming, tasked with booking performances. But he resigned less than two weeks later, declining to disclose why.
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed last year with only Republican votes, provided $257 million for renovations and maintenance at the center, which opened in 1971. Some areas already have gone through renovations, including the presidential box in the Opera House, while the gold columns that surrounded the complex were painted white.
The New York Times and The Washington Post have each reported on stalled ticket sales since the Trump takeover. The audience base of the center is concentrated in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, areas that voted heavily for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Those also were the areas that bore the brunt of the Trump administration’s rapid cuts to the federal workforce last year, with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency spearheading the effort.
Yet the board still went ahead in December and added Trump’s name to the complex, angering members of the Kennedy family and leading to a lawsuit challenging the rebranding without congressional authorization.
Since Trump’s takeover, the Kennedy Center has become a haven for administration events, most recently the premiere of Amazon MGM’s Melania documentary, which drew the Trumps, cabinet members and those involved in the production, including director Brett Ratner.
What’s unclear is whether the closure will mean the suspension of the Kennedy Center Honors, the annual ceremony that has drawn a mix of D.C. and Hollywood figures since it started in 1978. CBS had broadcast the ceremony since then, but its latest rights deal expired with the most recent event. Trump hosted the December ceremony, and played a major role in selecting the honorees. A center spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Also unclear is what will happen with the National Symphony Orchestra, which performs at the center. The Washington National Opera already announced plans to leave the center, having been based at the complex since its opening.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “After a one year review of The Trump Kennedy Center, that has taken place with Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants, deciding between either Construction with Closure and Re-Opening or, Partial Construction while continuing Entertainment Operations through a much longer period of time, working in and around the Performances, 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. 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!”
In his first term, Trump shunned the Kennedy Center, after Norman Lear and other 2017 honorees said that they would not participate in a traditional White House event that precedes the ceremony. Trump then canceled that White House event and declined to attend any of the Kennedy Center Honors, which presidents had traditionally done.
After the announcement of the closure, Maria Shriver, the niece of John F. Kennedy, mocked Trump’s announcement. She wrote on X, “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?”
John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, wrote, “Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the building. He can try to kill JFK. But JFK is kept alive by us now rising up to remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice, and restore the freedoms generations fought for.”
The center closed during Covid, but remained open during an expansion of the complex in 2019, when it was led by Deborah Rutter and a board of Democratic and Republican appointees. Rutter was ousted when Trump took over the center last year.
English (US) ·