Why Donald Trump suddenly shut down the Kennedy Center after controversial name change
Various lawmakers have pushed back on the decision
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC was named after the late US President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Texas almost a decade prior to its opening in 1971.
However, on 1 February, sitting President Donald Trump surprised officials by announcing that the American institution would close up shop for a lengthy period.
The notice came months after House Republicans proposed renaming the iconic landmark the ‘First Lady Melania Trump Opera House’.
Despite serious pushback, including from JFK’s family, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the memorial hub would be known as the 'Trump-Kennedy Center' instead.
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Now, in a bold move, the 79-year-old has shared that the building, which recently hosted the official draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, will be closed for ‘approximately’ two years.
The total shutdown will commence from 4 July 2026 and is allegedly ‘in honour of the 250th Anniversary’ of the US.
After consulting with ‘contractors, musical experts, art institutions, and other advisors and consultants’, it was also decided that all performances would cease.
"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," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
During an Oval Office press conference, he claimed the scheduled renovations would result in a ‘new and beautiful landmark’, adding: "I'm not ripping it down. I'll be using the steel. So, we're using the structure. We're using some of the marble, and some of the marble comes down, but when it's opened, it'll be brand new and really beautiful. It'll be at the highest level.”
Trump also promised via Truth Social that the venue would be a ‘new and spectacular Entertainment Complex’.
Various lawmakers have questioned the President’s decision to close the Kennedy Center, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.
Punchbowl News quoted the Republican as saying: “At no point in time was it ever suggested that the entire Kennedy Center would be shut down for renovation.”
In an interview with ABC News, Representative Chellie Pingree, who is the top Democrat on the panel that oversees funding for the Kennedy Center, admitted she is seeking legal guidance on whether Trump is allowed to close the performing arts venue without Congress’s approval.
"It's a total outrage,” she said. "This is just shutting it down because he has to cover up that he's run the place into the ground.”
Meanwhile, Ohio Representative Joyce Beatty alleged via X: "Trump is scrambling to shut down the Kennedy Center after discovering that American artists and performers won't put up with his partisan takeover and unlawful renaming.
“And let's be clear: a remodelling job won't restore the Kennedy Center to what it was, a return to artistic independence will.”
Most recently, the venue hosted a premiere screening of a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.
The self-titled film has reportedly left viewers divided, with some calling the Brett Ratner project ‘a highly produced fluff piece that never quite discovered its own purpose’.
Another reviewer claimed: "There is no story here. It's nothing about the first lady, where she came from, who she is, etc. This is simply her picking out fashion. I feel dumber for having watched it. Thank heavens I didn’t pay for it!”
Critics gave the Amazon MGM Studios film a seven per cent rating on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomato Meter, while fans scored it at a whopping 99 per cent.
Topics: US News, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Politics
Ella Scott