You could tell this story by focusing on the details instead of the drama, but that’s not what happened here.
On Thursday morning, the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center voted to add a new inscription under the main sign. It will say, “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board claims this honors Trump for saving the institution from disaster, even though ticket sales dropped sharply while he was in charge.
Here is why that inscription matters. In December, the same board voted to rename the center after Trump, a decision the White House announced with press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling it recognition of the unbelievable work she said he had done in saving the building. In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked it. His ruling was not subtle. The law establishing the center, he wrote, makes clear that it is to be named for President Kennedy and cannot carry another formal name or public memorial based on the board’s own unilateral say-so. Trump’s name was removed from the white marble facade in mid-June. The tarps have been hanging there ever since.
So the board did not officially rename the building. Instead, they chose to add his name in a different way and challenge the court to respond.
Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex officio board member who sued the White House over the original renaming, described the inscription as a surprise agenda item and said the whole thing is a transparent effort to circumvent the court’s ruling that flies in the face of the statutes Congress passed. Norm Eisen, who represented Beatty in that suit, put it more bluntly, saying the defendants will now have to answer for their actions in court again.
Check out our recent reporting on the already rusting columns from a no-bid renovation along with other issues being caused by Trump’s botched renovation of the Kennedy Center.
The two-year shutdown is the bigger story
The debate over the name will make the news, but the real impact comes from closing the building.
The board voted Thursday to move forward with shutting down the main complex for a two-year renovation, keeping only the REACH, the smaller building on the campus, open for limited programming. National Symphony Orchestra performances and other signature events get pushed offsite. This is the second time the board has tried this. Cooper blocked the first attempt in May, finding that the decision had been made on a one-sided presentation of information and that trustees did not have sufficient information to justify it. When Trump claimed there had been a year-long review involving contractors and musical experts, the judge wrote that the evidence of any such review was nil.
What makes Thursday’s vote more troubling is that the board had another option. Trustees could have chosen a four-year partial renovation that would have kept the Kennedy Center open, though it would have been disruptive and expensive. Instead, they picked the plan that shuts the building down.
For two years, there will be no performances at the national cultural center. The building in the heart of Washington will be closed, with a new inscription honoring the person responsible for the shutdown.
Critics have said from the start that the push to close the center is less about fixing the building and more about hiding poor results. Ticket sales have dropped sharply since Trump took over. Artists have left, and subscribers have canceled. When the building is closed, there are no attendance numbers to report. It is hard to show poor performance when there are no performances.t happens next
Judge Cooper still needs to approve any closure, and he has already ruled that the board broke the law by adding Trump’s name to the venue. The court told the board to submit a status report on its construction plans and the tarps covering the facade within five days of the August meeting, making the deadline August 18. Legal action is likely to follow soon after.
The Kennedy Center was created when Lyndon Johnson signed a bill in 1964, making it a living memorial to President Kennedy after his assassination. Congress gave it its name, and only Congress can change it. A board filled with Trump loyalists, after he removed Biden-appointed trustees, cannot overrule that just because the chairman wants his name on the building.
They know the court ruled against them, but they are moving forward anyway, hoping no one will challenge them again.
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