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By Alice Gibbs and Dan Gooding
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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., would close immediately, but renovations on the performing arts center would not start until a judge rules on the matter.
Trump's comments on Truth Social came after a judge again blocked efforts to put the president's name on the building which was built as a memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, and the center's board voted to close the venue for two years.
"The closing will take place immediately, however, the 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," Trump posted. "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."
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Earlier Tuesday, a federal judge once again issued an order over efforts to put Trump's name onto the building.
In an emergency order, after the Kennedy Center's board released various options for returning Trump's name to the exterior, District Judge Christopher R. Cooper said he and the U.S. Court of Appeals had already rejected those efforts. "Yet the drama at the Kennedy Center continues," he said.
"Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing," Cooper said.
The Kennedy Center's board was then reported to have voted to close the center for two years, despite the ongoing court battle. An attorney for Ohio Representative Joyce Beatty, the lead plaintiff in the case, said the move was likely in violation of a court order.
Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders responded to the developments Tuesday afternoon on X.
"A federal judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the Kennedy Center. Now our narcissistic president is threatening to CLOSE it unless the Supreme Court overturns that decision," Sanders wrote. "Sorry, Mr. Trump: We’re not living in a dictatorship. The Supreme Court doesn't report to you."
Newsweek reached out to the Kennedy Center via email for comment.
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On Monday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shared a video that he said showed part of a ceiling collapsing inside the venue, calling it unsafe and arguing it requires extensive renovation as the legal and political battle over the institution continues.
The footage, later amplified by Trump on Truth Social, comes months after the president overhauled the Kennedy Center's leadership and as lawsuits continue challenging changes to the center's governance and direction.
"The Kennedy Center is in a virtual state of collapse, and has been for many years," Trump wrote in an earlier post on Truth Social Tuesday. "A large piece of concrete and steel just dropped down, in a thud, from the ceiling of a heavily trafficked main hallway. If the Building were open, innocent people would have been killed."
Did the Kennedy Center Ceiling Collapse?
The Kennedy Center ceiling collapsed on September 4 after an evening of heavy rain in the D.C. area. A video and a series of screenshots capture the moment, showing debris scattered on the carpet and a visible hole in the 60-foot ceiling.
Annotated images posted by Lutnick claim the section that fell measured roughly 4 by 5 feet and weighed more than 150 pounds.
The Kennedy Center said on social media after the incident: "Another warning we can’t ignore. A section of the Grand Foyer ceiling collapsed after this week’s storms. Thankfully no one was hurt. Decades of deferred maintenance made this inevitable. Chairman President Trump has been right: America’s cultural center needs to close, renovate, and be restored—now."
What Lutnick Said About the Collapse
Sharing a video on his official X account, Lutnick wrote: "Here is the video of the ceiling of the Kennedy Center crashing violently onto the main Lobby floor. Failing roofing, collapsing concrete supports, and steel that is rotting have created completely unsafe conditions."
The footage, reportedly captured on security cameras, appears to show ceiling material crashing onto the lobby floor.
Lutnick said that the falling material missed one of the center’s security guards "by just minutes," adding that, "If a performance had been underway, patrons could have been killed."
"The entire building is in this kind of shape. People cannot be allowed to go into this building any longer. It must be closed and reconstructed, and a major fundraising effort must take place to cover the Kennedy Center’s operating expenses," Lutnick wrote. "Like many other Centers, it operates at a huge loss. For the Kennedy Center, that has historically been $80-$100 million a year. Only President Trump can deliver the renovation on time and on budget, and only President Trump can raise the money to keep the Center out of bankruptcy."
Trump later shared the ceiling-collapse video on Truth Social without comment or caption, then posted a lengthy statement saying the courts were preventing refurbishments.
"The Board of The Kennedy Center has strongly voted to save it, and they know I’m the only one who can do so, because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct—that few others have," Trump said. "I also have the strength and power of the Presidency, which will be needed do what must be done, and give it a strong shot at Greatness again!"
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How Trump Reshaped the Kennedy Center
The apparent ceiling collapse follows Trump's dramatic reshaping of the Kennedy Center’s inner workings earlier this year, replacing board members and installing allies in key leadership positions.
The changes marked a significant departure from the center's traditionally bipartisan governance structure, prompting criticism from some artists, performers and former officials associated with the institution.
Amid this, the president added his name to the building's facade alongside John F. Kennedy's, before a federal judge ordered Trump's name removed in May 2026 after ruling it was added illegally.
Since the overhaul, Kennedy Center leadership has argued that the organization faces major operational and financial challenges, including deferred maintenance and aging infrastructure.
Cooper referenced these issues in his Tuesday order, writing that the government's claims that Trump's name was necessary to drive improvements contradicted the evidence.
"The renaming of the Center coincided with declines in revenue and contributions, as artists canceled performances, the Washington National Opera ended its 50-year residency, and ticket sales and viewership of the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast dropped precipitously," the judge wrote.
"The Board also has access to the $257 million that Congress appropriated for necessary capital improvements—an outlay that Secretary Lutnick indicated at the August 13 meeting President Trump is prepared to use 'to complete the [renovation] work[.]'"
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Is Trump’s Name Still on the Kennedy Center?
Not currently. A federal judge ordered Trump's name removed from the building in May after finding it had been added unlawfully. However, court documents filed Monday show Kennedy Center leadership was again considering a resolution that would place Trump's name on the exterior facade beneath the center's existing name.
According to the filing, the proposal argued that the Kennedy Center faced a "precarious fiscal position" and stated trustees believed that without such recognition Trump was unlikely to "provide the fundamental oversight of the renovation of the main building and lead the fiscal rescue of the Center."
In his order Tuesday, Cooper again said that the center's board lacked the authority to write "renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump" on the building or to name the campus "President Donald J. Trump Plaza," but he did leave open the option to add Trump's name in some way once a $100 million renovation is complete.
Legal Fight Over the Kennedy Center
The collapse footage emerged as legal challenges to Trump's changes at the Kennedy Center continue to play out in court.
The latest dispute centers on a series of draft resolutions circulated to Kennedy Center board members ahead of a September 15 meeting and later filed in court by Representative Beatty, who is challenging Trump's overhaul of the institution.
According to Beatty's filing, one proposed resolution would again authorize closing the Kennedy Center's main building, citing the recent ceiling incident and asserting that consultants viewed the facility as "unsafe for continued occupancy." Beatty's attorneys disputed that characterization, writing that consulting firm Delta Consulting Group had "expressly disclaimed providing any such opinion."
The filing also argues that the ceiling collapse involved "a portion of the ceiling plaster" that detached following a leak and notes that similar defects had been addressed in the past without shutting down the center.
Is the Kennedy Center Closed?
The Kennedy Center is currently open. However, court filings show board members were considering another resolution that would authorize closure of the Kennedy Center's main building.
On September 14, Kennedy Center Vice President of Board Relations Joe LaFauci informed trustees that, "due to the recently exacerbated structural emergencies," a September 15 board meeting would focus exclusively on "the necessary closure of the Center."
LaFauci also told board members that the board continued to support a previously approved recognition resolution relating to Trump. As of Tuesday morning, no final vote to close the center had been publicly announced.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood, Emma Lee-Sang, Sam Wilson.
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