Trump Board Closes Kennedy Center To Protect It From Art
The Kennedy Center board voted Tuesday to close the landmark’s main building, completing the Trump administration’s plan to elevate American culture beyond the distracting presence of performances, audiences and artists. The decision followed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocking the board from adding President Donald Trump’s name to the congressionally designated John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Trustees concluded that an arts center unable to advertise Trump prominently was not legally empty enough and therefore had to become physically empty as well.
Trump said the closure would protect visitors from attending plays, concerts and ballets without being reminded who deserved credit for them. “People walked into this building for years and saw Kennedy everywhere, but nobody saw Trump, even though I have done more for theater than Shakespeare,” Trump said. “A show cannot really begin until my name is bigger than the title, the cast and, frankly, the building.” The board also cited safety concerns, financial distress and the continuing hazard that tourists might associate a memorial named for President John F. Kennedy with President John F. Kennedy. Congress has allocated $257 million for repairs, but officials said construction funds cannot responsibly be spent while the facade remains insufficiently presidential.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, who challenged the renaming effort, sought emergency court intervention under the increasingly controversial theory that a performing arts center should remain available for performing arts. Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell praised the shutdown as a historic expansion of cultural access, noting that every American, regardless of income, geography or interest in culture, will now have the same opportunity to attend: none. Officials said the building may reopen after Congress, the courts and the English language agree that “Kennedy” means “Trump.” Until then, Washington’s premier performing arts venue has achieved artistic perfection by ensuring that no art is performed.
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