A Shouting Match and an Ultimatum at the Kennedy Center

Donald Trump has given the federal judiciary an ultimatum: Let him put his name on the Kennedy Center, or he won’t save it.

That threat came after a federal judge, Christopher Cooper, today blocked yet another effort to add the president’s name to the building.

Moments later, Trump virtually joined a Kennedy Center board meeting, at which he slammed Cooper’s decision and lashed out at Representative Joyce Beatty—the ex officio board member challenging his overhaul of the institution in court—according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal proceedings.

Later, Trump posted on Truth Social that the center’s “Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C.

Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name,” adding, “If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S.

Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.” After months defined by empty theaters and canceled shows, the Kennedy Center has become a shadow of the premier performance venue it was just over a year ago.

A Washington Post report this week revealed that the center’s finances are on the brink of collapse and that it could face bankruptcy.

But while the institution has diminished, its leaders—and Trump’s allies on the board—have continued to push his plans forward, repackaging their oft-repeated claim that the only way to save it from financial ruin ahead of a two-year renovation is to emblazon it with Trump’s name.

The crisis at the Kennedy Center is entangled in a larger effort by Trump to control what Washington looks like—a fight that has taken on higher stakes as his administration evades federal procedures designed to protect historic places from the whims of any one president.

The immediate outcome of today’s events adds more confusion.

General trustees voted in favor of closing the center, and two staffers told me that leaders subsequently announced through the building’s broadcast system that the Kennedy Center was closed to the public.

It was unclear if that announcement meant that employees would also be barred from the premises, according to one of the staffers, both of whom spoke with me on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Cooper issued a preliminary injunction in May to temporarily block the center from closing; if he does not lift or amend that ruling, the announced closure will put the board in violation of the court’s orders.