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President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he has decided that the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington should close its doors for about two years.
Trump, who wrote on Truth Social that the decision is “totally subject” to the approval of its handpicked boardsaid the center would close on July 4 and that “funding is complete and fully in place.” Trump did not say where the funding came from. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on questions regarding funding.
Trump added that the decision was made based on a review involving “contractors, music experts, arts institutions and other advisors and consultants,” who weighed construction with closure and reopening or partial construction while entertainment operations continued.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s announcement, what the center’s board of directors thinks about the issue or what would happen to the center’s existing programming.
Trump said the closure would “produce a much faster and better result,” that the Kennedy Center could be “the best performing arts center of its kind” and that there would be a “grand reopening” after the renovation.
He called the Kennedy Center, where premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary took place last week – “tired, broken and dilapidated”, adding that it “has been in disrepair, both financially and structurally, for many years”.
Trump has taken a particular interest in the Kennedy Center since returning to office last year. He replaced the center’s board of directors with a hand-picked group of members who made him president and changed the center’s programming, including eliminating Pride events.
Late last year, the board decided to rename the center to include Trump’s name. It was then affixed to the facade — before President John F. Kennedy’s name — a day later.
The name change drew criticism from members of the Kennedy family and members of Congress. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who serves on the board as an ex-officio member, continued the administration for changing the name of the center, claiming that it was not a legal decision, since the center was created by law.
Since the name change, many artists have canceled their appearances at the center, including the composer of the hit musical “Wicked,” Stephen Schwartz, who dropped out of college organize a gala for the Washington National Opera. The opera has since I left the centerwhere he had been performing since 1971.
Raquel Coronell Uribe is a breaking news reporter.
