Trump Plans to Close Kennedy Center for Two Years, Beginning July 4

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he will close the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for up to two years as part of renovations, which has faced an existential crisis over the past year.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the shutdown, which would take place on July 4, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States, “is entirely subject to board approval.” He said the planned closure was intended to turn “a tired, broken and dilapidated center” into “the best performing arts facility of its kind”, which could only be achieved through a complete closure.

The Kennedy Center has been in trouble since Trump was elected chairman of its board of directors last February. The next month, Vice President J.D. Vance was booed during a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra. In December, Trump took steps to add his name to the facade of the Kennedy Center and attempted to officially rename it to include his name, although the legality of the move was questioned.

In January, the Washington National Opera said it would find a new home. Likewise, many artists canceled performances at the Kennedy Center last year. The latest of these is composer Philip Glass, who was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra to write a symphony in memory of Abraham Lincoln. The symphony was originally scheduled to premiere at the Kennedy Center in 2022, but Glass missed that deadline; it was most recently scheduled to premiere this June. It is unclear how the National Symphony Orchestra, which performs about 150 performances a year, will be affected by the closure.

The renovation is the latest in Trump’s goal to reinvent some of Washington, D.C.’s most important attractions. At the White House, he removed the lawn of the famous Rose Garden and replaced it with a terrace. He is also building a 90,000-square-foot ballroom in the East Wing of the White House, work on which began in October. The program is currently the subject of litigation.

The Kennedy Center most recently underwent a $250 million renovation in 2019, overseen by the center’s president, Deborah Rutter, who stepped down shortly after Trump’s inauguration. Trump said the renovations included “rooms that no one will use.”

Trump said in the post that financing for the new renovations has been completed. Richard Grenell, the current chairman of the Kennedy Center, said on Sunday that Congress had allocated $257 million for the renovation project, but it was unclear what the final budget for the renovation project would be.

this washington post According to the report, Grenell sent an email to Kennedy Center staff on Sunday confirming the closure, adding “[w]We will have more information on staffing and operational changes in the coming days. “