Trump’s Kennedy Center Changes Having Existential Impact on Neighboring Businesses

Carlos Barria/REUTERS Businesses close to the Kennedy Center have warned they are dying because of Donald Trump’s meddling with the iconic D.C. arts venue.

The president, 80, is pushing for a two-year renovation of the theater, after plastering his name on it last December.

In gaudy gold lettering, he renamed it The Donald J.

Trump and The John F.

Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

Although Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, forced them to remove that in June, visitor numbers remain way down, and restaurants and cafes in the area say they are struggling to survive—with one eatery claiming its income is down an eye-popping 75 percent.

“It has been terrible since the name thing,” Mohamed Hyali, 66, who runs Tazza Cafe , meters away from the Kennedy Center, told the Washington Post.

The arts venue and theater typically brings in 2 million guests a year, many of whom eat and drink at nearby establishments before and after shows.

But attendance has fallen through the floor since Trump took office for a second time, forcing the organization to ask its trustees to give out free tickets to some events.

In August 2025, Hyali says the restaurant brought in $415,000, but this August that has slumped to just $103,000, forcing him to cut employees’ hours, leading half to leave altogether.

Hyali says he has not taken a salary in two months, with utility bills, rent, and food costs climbing even higher.

“I pray every day that he will change his mind,” he told the Post, adding that he “can’t raise my prices every week, you know.” The restaurateur had planned a $10-12 pizza-and-drink deal for construction workers, then the court halt killed that too.

“So now I have no show customers, and now no construction customers,” Hyali told the Post.

His experience appears not to be unique.