A legal setback over the Kennedy Center’s name has prompted US President Donald Trump to issue a dramatic ultimatum: if he cannot put his name on the building, he says the famed arts venue may never reopen.
Trump said his hand-picked board voted “almost unanimously” to close the Washington institution immediately for emergency renovations — a move he announced just hours after a federal judge ruled against adding his name to the exterior.
While describing the work ahead as “very large and complex,” Trump insisted repairs cannot begin unless a higher court allows the centre to be renamed after him.
“If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the US Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social network.
The Kennedy Center, in its own statement, said the board’s action “reflects sound judgment and a clear prioritisation of safety above all else”.
Soon after the start of his second term, Trump installed himself as chairman of the centre, which honours late president John F Kennedy — the Democrat who championed civil rights before he was assassinated in 1963.
In December, the board voted to rename it the “Trump-Kennedy” Center and added signage bearing Trump’s name.
US federal judge Christopher Cooper had already ordered Trump’s name removed from the facade and struck down the board’s attempt to rename the institution.
Donald Trump said the Kennedy Center would close immediately (file image)
In his latest decision, Judge Cooper ruled that Trump’s name cannot be restored to the exterior, scolding the centre for what he said was an effort to sidestep his earlier order.
“Simply put,” wrote Judge Cooper, the board “cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing”.
Demolition threat
Trump called into a board meeting and lashed out at a Democratic congresswoman who sits on the board and brought the lawsuit that halted the renaming, CNN reported.
The Kennedy Center dispute is part of a broader push to imprint Trump’s brand on the nation’s capital, including plans for a triumphal arch and a half-billion dollar ballroom at the White House.
Workers removed Trump’s name from the building in June, though scaffolding and tarps have remained in place since then.
Last month, the board advanced a new proposal to install signage stating the building was “renovated and restored by President Donald J Trump.
Judge Cooper said that proposal violated his prior ruling.
Trump and the leaders he selected to run the Kennedy Center say the main building — erected in the 1960s — has deteriorated to the point of posing serious safety risks.
Pointing to a recent episode in which part of the ceiling fell after a storm, Trump cited it as proof that the site is unsafe.
“If the Building were open, innocent people would have been killed,” he wrote on Truth Social ahead of the judge’s ruling.
Last month, in court filings, the Trump administration warned the centre could face demolition if its renovation plans were blocked.
A host of artists have cancelled performances at the venue in response to Trump’s takeover, and US media has reported that Kennedy Center ticket sales have plunged.
