“What was not authorized is a demolition of the Kennedy Center. … If a federal facility is going to be demolished, it cannot be without congressional oversight here.
Back to stories
Kennedy Center Board Votes 20-3 to Carve Trump's Name Into the Facade and Close the Main Building for Two Years, Three Months After a Judge Ordered the Name Removed
August 14, 2026
On Thursday, August 13, 2026, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board of trustees — chaired by President Trump and composed mostly of his appointees — voted 20-3 during a roughly two-hour Zoom meeting to close the center's main building for a two-year, $250 million renovation and to attach Trump's name to the building again. The board approved changing the building's name to "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump," to be realized as an inscription reading "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump" placed below the existing marquee bearing President Kennedy's name. The board separately voted to rename the physical site "President Donald J. Trump Plaza." The REACH, a 2019 addition, stays open for limited programming and as a memorial to Kennedy. Reopening is targeted for summer 2028. The vote came three months after U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in May 2026 that the board's earlier renaming of the venue the "Trump-Kennedy Center" was unlawful, writing that "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it," and separately blocking a planned closure as "ill-informed and preordained." A D.C. Circuit panel declined to stay that ruling. Federal law establishes the center as a memorial to Kennedy and bars renaming it — or adding "memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials" — without an act of Congress. The three votes against came from the congressional ex officio trustees: Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3), the plaintiff in the underlying lawsuit *Beatty v. Trump*, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA-2). Whitehouse said Trump called into the meeting and gave a speech for several minutes, after which the president's vote — and that of chief of staff Susie Wiles, a board member — were texted in. Democratic trustees said they still had not been given the assessments of what a closure would mean for the institution. The White House defended the plan; Beatty's counsel called the vote an effort to evade the court's ruling, setting up a likely contempt fight.
13
Statements Recorded
See what your representatives said?
13 Statements
“My initial investigation into misconduct at the Center focused on cronyism and corruption. … The documents that I attach today seem to reveal deeper financial mismanagement. … Your failure to respond to my previous requests for financial documents, and the unexplained sudden departure of the CFO, suggest that something is seriously wrong at the Center. [Whitehouse wrote that the documents showed Kennedy Center leadership had "hoarded" congressionally appropriated repair funding "while blaming previous leadership for the state of repairs."]
“It is simply outrageous that we have gotten to the point of consistent judicial intervention to protect this historic institution from getting bulldozed by the President. I will continue to fight for the rule of law and defend this memorial on behalf of the American people.
“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. 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. You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings.
“The closing will take place immediately, however, the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board's approved name.
“The law is extremely clear: The John F. Kennedy Center is named for President Kennedy — and no one else. But President Trump is holding the Kennedy Center hostage unless he can put his name on this sacred memorial.
“It was the most unprofessional thing that I've ever witnessed or been a part of. … He went into name-calling, from everything from trying to say that I was an obstructionist, I was dumb. … He didn't get his vanity project. He didn't get his name on it for the second time. … He said he was going to hold me responsible if something fell out of the ceiling and killed someone.
“Donald Trump's handpicked Board is playing a dangerous game with the law. The Defendants have repeatedly ignored the law, flouted the Court's rulings, and threatened the destruction of the Kennedy Center in the name of one man's vanity. I'll always stand up for the law and against the Trump administration's unlawfulness and corruption.
“It’s deja vu all over again. Now, in a new and breathtaking act of defiance of Congress and of this Court, Defendants have voted to return President Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center’s facade.
“The board’s repeated efforts to break the law are a breathtaking act of defiance, but I will continue to stand up against all unlawful acts — enough is enough. The Kennedy Center is a sacred space that belongs to the American people. At every turn, Trump’s handpicked Board has flouted court orders and attempted to circumvent the law.
“The Board is again openly flouting a court order in voting to put President Trump's name on the building to recognize his construction genius — a laughable idea given his abject failure in his efforts to renovate the Reflecting Pool.
“This morning's decision to close the Center and the surprise agenda item to put Donald Trump's name back on the building was more of the same. This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court's ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed. I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument.
“Under President Trump's bold leadership, the Kennedy Center is on its way to becoming the finest cultural institution anywhere in the world.
Background (1)— earlier statements that set the stage▸
“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!