Trump says Kennedy Center to be closed for 2-year renovation project

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday evening that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., will close for two years to undergo extensive renovations.

The iconic institution has seen multiple artist cancellations following the Kennedy Center board’s decision to add his name to the building, which was constructed in memory of former president John F. Kennedy in recognition of his commitment to and love of the arts.

Unveiled in 1971, it is open year-round as a public showcase for the arts.

Trump made no mention of the artist cancellations, and did not say that’s why the venue is being closed.

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In a Truth Social post, he said that his administration would revamp a “tired, broken, and dilapidated Center,” into “the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World.”

The announcement follows the withdrawal of Philip Glass, the acclaimed American composer, who said he would not play a scheduled performance of Symphony No. 15 in June. A week earlier, acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming cancelled a performance.

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The Washington National Opera announced in January that it was cutting ties with the Kennedy Center.

In December, The Cookers, a jazz group performing together for nearly two decades, pulled out of a planned New Year’s Eve concert, titled A Jazz New Year’s Eve.

A touring production of the hit musical Hamilton also cancelled performances scheduled for March.

“The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national center represents,” producer Jeffrey Seller wrote in a statement on X at the time.

Trump stated that if the Kennedy Center did not close, the “quality” of the renovations would not suffice and that keeping it open would unnecessarily prolong the process.

“The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result,” he wrote.

The Trump Kennedy Center, as it’s now called, will close on July 4th for two years “in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex,” the president wrote, adding that the financing has been completed on the project. He did not clarify how the renovations would be paid for.

The arts centre was last renovated in 2019, according to the New York Times, and underwent a $250-million expansion.

The president did not provide many details on the new renovation plans, but said, “America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come.”

In December, John F. Kennedy’s niece Maria Shriver spoke out against renaming the centre, saying the decision was “beyond comprehension.”

“The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy. It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought the arts into the White House, and he and my Aunt Jackie amplified the arts, celebrated the arts, stood up for the arts and artists,” she wrote.

“Can we not see what is happening here? C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! This is not dignified. This is not funny.”

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