President Donald Trump and his allies on the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are engaged in an escalating legal battle over the future of the institution, with the building itself now closed to the public and surrounded by fencing.
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After a federal judge this week ruled for the second time that Trump’s name cannot be added to the center without congressional approval, the president and the organization’s board vowed to close it. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, a non-voting member of the center’s board, has been leading the charge against the name change – and to keep the center open. She and her attorneys call its closure by the administration an illegal move.
The Justice Department disputes that contention, arguing in a Thursday filing that the center can be closed temporarily if circumstances warrant.
Perhaps most dramatically, attorneys for Beatty are raising new concerns with the court about whether there will be an attempt to demolish the center. A photographer from Agence France-Presse captured an image of Trump, while traveling Wednesday, examining a poster that appeared to include the words “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.” The attorneys submitted that photo as evidence in a new filing.
Here’s what to know about the Kennedy Center, Trump’s takeover and the legal fight over the future of the institution.
How the Conflict Began
The controversy started early in Trump’s second term after he fired much of the previous Kennedy Center board of trustees, replaced them with his supporters and named himself chairman. That board of loyalists then voted in December to add Trump’s name to the center’s exterior.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in May ruled that was illegal, because only Congress could change the title of the center dedicated to memorializing slain President John F. Kennedy. Trump’s name was removed from the center’s branding and the exterior of the building, though a tarp and scaffolding blocking the view of the building’s inscription remains in place.
But the board tried other ways to include Trump’s name, including christening the plaza in front of the building in Trump’s honor or adding the words “renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump.” The board reportedly also proposed an inscription that reads “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund” if a fundraising goal of $100 million were reached.
Tensions over the plans erupted Tuesday when the board met after Cooper again ruled the center could not on its own change its name. At that meeting, the board voted to shut the facility down – which prompted charges that action was illegal. Beatty said Trump himself actually called into the board meeting.
“He threw a tantrum because he lost in court. He wasn’t pleased with it. He was very explicit with his words, and I responded equally as explicit,” she told reporters on Capitol Hill.
‘Very Dangerous’ Conditions
Opened in 1971, the building was established through bipartisan legislation signed by Dwight Eisenhower calling for a national cultural center. It was designated by Congress a living memorial to Kennedy in 1964, a year after his assassination. For more than half a century, the iconic white marble building on the bank of the Potomac River hosted the National Symphony Orchestra and served as the home of the Washington National Opera.
Deferred maintenance had long been an issue, and Congress had approved $257 million for structural repairs. But the Trump administration suddenly declared that the building must be closed to address the renovations.
Regarding the extent of the damage to the facility, “It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape. You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings. You see a lot of dangers,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
Video released by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shows concrete falling from the roof and compromised steel.
The center has not allowed journalists inside to independently examine the damage.
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Trump repeatedly boasts of how he can help save the institution financially and claims he has raised $17 million to keep it operational.
“It’s a mess. The Kennedy Center for many years has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars,” Trump said. “For me to go and fix it – I’m quite capable of fixing it – and then have to subsidize it for years to come, because you will lose with the Kennedy Center.”
However, The Washington Post reported in August internal documents showed ticket sales and fundraising collapsed after his name was added to the center in December after scheduled performers pulled out of shows.
And critics ask why the board hasn’t spent the $257 million previously approved by Congress for the renovation work. The center responded in Thursday’s court filing that some of those funds are now being spent.
Holding the Kennedy Center ‘Hostage’
While Trump and his proxies frame the argument around construction and safety, the battle over whether his name appears on the building is inextricably linked to its modernization.
And he has dramatically escalated his rhetoric in recent days. After initially suggesting last year that he was unaware of the decision to append his name to the building – telling reporters he was “surprised and honored” by the move – on Wednesday he all but openly threatened that the Kennedy Center could actually be torn down if his request is not granted.
“For the Trump administration, for me, to get involved and to take that on long term and to carry it out to raise money to carry it I think that the Trump administration should have recognition because, frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” Trump said Wednesday.
Josh Kolb, one of Beatty’s attorneys and senior counsel with the group Democracy Defenders Action, tells U.S. News that he thinks Trump is trying to satisfy “his ego and his whims.”
“Trump is holding the Kennedy Center hostage. He wants to build a monument to himself,” adds Kolb.
Kolb argues both the center’s closing as well as the attempts to add Trump’s name violate a May court ruling by Cooper.
“They keep trying to find ways around the court order.”
The Latest
Beatty’s attorneys filed a motion Wednesday asking for an emergency hearing to force it to re-open. In response, the Kennedy Center told the court Thursday there were “continued life-safety hazards” to the public if it tries to access the facility.
“I came to the conclusion that acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration at the Center necessitated a temporary closure of most public spaces in the main building of the Center to public access,” Charles Flora, the center’s executive director, said in a court filing.
Flora disclosed this closing will last for seven days, but it could be extended. The threats of demolition also made their way to court filings, and lawyers for the administration proposed that the site could eventually become an open air amphitheater. It remains to be seen when Cooper will decide whether to hold a hearing, and Trump has already made clear that he would appeal an unfavorable ruling to the Supreme Court.
With midterm elections approaching, Congress appears unlikely to insert itself into the conflict anytime soon, so for now it appears the conflict will continue to play out before the courts.
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