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President Donald Trump said Monday that he is not planning to tear down the Kennedy Center, while arguing that the performing arts venue needs to close for about two years so construction can proceed without patrons coming and going.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “I’m not ripping it down,” and added, “I’ll be using the steel. So we’re using the structure.” He also argued that a shutdown is needed because, as he described it, “you can’t do any work because people are coming in and out,” in remarks that followed his earlier announcement that the center would be temporarily closed starting July 4.
In that earlier social media announcement, Trump said the shutdown would last about two years and be for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding,” subject to board approval. On Monday, he said the plan was no longer feasible to keep the venue open during work, after he had said last October that it could proceed with patrons in the building.
Trump pegged the cost at about $200 million, including what he called “the highest-grade marbles, the highest-grade everything,” and said the center would be “fully financed” and that closing would allow work to be done properly. He said he and the administration would “sit with” the decision before acting and described the building, as he put it, as “in very bad shape,” “run down,” “dilapidated” and “sort of dangerous.”
Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center spokesperson, responded in a social media post that “decades of gross negligence” have led to $250 million in deferred maintenance needs. Daravi said the temporary closure is “the most logical choice to allow for comprehensive renovations, efficient project completion, and responsible use of taxpayer dollars.”
The White House, after Trump spoke, said some of the maintenance would include work on the building’s structural systems, heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical, fire protection and technical stage systems. It said the effort would also cover work on the building’s exterior, security standards and parking.
Trump’s comments came after a wave of cancellations by leading performers, musicians and groups since the president took over leadership of the arts institution. The Kennedy Center has also faced personnel and governance shifts since Trump entered office, including dismissing board members appointed by Democratic presidents and replacing them with loyalists who voted to make him chairman; the board also later voted to rebrand the center by adding Trump’s name to the building and website.
Deborah Rutter, the Kennedy Center president who was ousted by Trump, declined comment Monday, according to the report. A representative for David Rubenstein, the board chairman who was also pushed out by Trump, said Rubenstein was not available to comment.
Kennedy Center Arts Workers United, which includes unions representing the institution’s arts workers, said it was aware of Trump’s announcement but had received no formal notice or briefing on plans. In a statement, the group pledged to enforce contractual rights and said it would do so if it received formal notice of a temporary suspension that displaces its members, adding that it expects continued fair pay, enforceable worker protections and accountability if workers cannot work due to an operational pause.
The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 and Congress designated it as a living memorial to President Kennedy. Congress earmarked $257 million for the center in a tax cut and spending bill that Trump signed into law last summer.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, who opened an investigation into the Kennedy Center’s financial management in November, said the planned closure is part of Trump’s “demolition tour of Washington.” Whitehouse, who is the senior Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, characterized the proposal as continuing a broader effort by Trump to overhaul Washington landmarks as he returned to the presidency.