On Sunday (February 1), President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social media platform that the Kennedy Center For The Arts would be closed for two years. “The Trump Kennedy Center will close on July 4th, 2026, in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex,” the post began.
The closure’s approval is subject to the center’s baord. That board has become more loyalist, thanks to Trump firing officers nominated by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama shortly after the beginning of his second term in office. He then installed Richard Grenell to be president. The funding allocated for the planned revisions – $257 million – was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which was passed solely with Republican support last year.
Some renovations have taken place at the Kennedy Center, with the gold columns surrounding the complex being painted white and the remodeling of the presidential box at the Opera House. The last closure took place during the COVID pandemic, but it had remained open during its last period of renovation and expansion in 2019.
Criticism of the decision came swiftly after Trump’s Truth Social post, with Maria Shriver, the niece of the late John F. Kennedy, mocking it and highlighting the struggles of the center under his second term. “Translation: It has been brought to my attention that due to the name change (but nobody’s telling me it’s due to the name change), but it’s been brought to my attention that entertainers are canceling left and right, and I have determined that since the name change no one wants to perform there any longer,” she wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The Kennedy Center has dealt with a rapid decline in ticket sales since Trump’s dismantling of the board, and has seen many artists cancel their appearances at the complex. The sudden announcement now puts The KennedyCenter Honors in jeopardy, which has been broadcast by CBS since 1978. There are now questions as to the status of the National Symphony Orchestra, which performs there. The Washington National Opera has already announced that it would leave the center, where it has been since its opening.
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