Kennedy Center Board Pushes Forward with Costly Renovation and Trump Name Restoration Despite Public Outcry
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
The Kennedy Center board, dominated by Trump appointees, has voted again to close the main building for a lavish $250 million renovation, while controversially restoring Donald Trump’s name to the entrance—ignoring public transparency and the concerns of artists and lawmakers.
On Thursday, the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, now chaired by Donald Trump and stacked with his appointees, voted to close the main building for a two-year, $250 million renovation. The decision leaves only the 2019 REACH addition open for limited programming, relegating the arts to the margins while the main campus undergoes expensive structural repairs, new marble flooring, and $12 million in acoustic upgrades. Even the iconic eight-foot bronze bust of Kennedy will be temporarily displaced. In a move that has sparked outrage among artists and the public, the board also voted to restore Trump’s name on the entrance, rebranding the venue as 'Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump,' a blatant act of self-aggrandizement that erases the legacy of President Kennedy.
This decision comes after a previous vote in March was blocked by a federal judge, who found the board lacked sufficient information to justify shutting down the center. Yet, the board pressed on, holding a closed Zoom meeting, further excluding the public from the process. The latest vote still requires judicial approval, but the lack of transparency and disregard for public input is clear.
Democratic legislators, who serve as ex-officio trustees, have raised alarms about the absence of impact assessments on the institution’s long-term health. Lawsuits have piled up: Representative Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) is suing to reverse the Trump name restoration and halt the renovation, while architecture and culture groups have filed their own legal challenges. The federal judge’s temporary block underscores the board’s failure to provide adequate information.
Since the announcement of the Trump name restoration in December 2025, the center’s programming has been thrown into chaos. Resident organizations like the Washington National Opera have left, and the National Symphony Orchestra is facing severe financial strain. The center was even ordered by a court to pay over $252,000 in legal fees to a jazz musician who canceled a performance in protest of the name change.
A large tarp still covers the entrance, a symbol of the ongoing legal battle and public resistance after a court order removed Trump’s name. The renovation is projected to finish in summer 2028, but the damage to the Kennedy Center’s reputation and mission may last much longer.