President Trump said Sunday the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close for two years starting on July 4 for renovations to the “dilapidated” venue, pending approval of the hand-picked board that he chairs.
The announcement on his social media platform Truth Social follows an exodus of performers, artistic advisers and others in the wake of Trump’s adding his own name to the storied venue that remains a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
“This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post without identifying the experts or their credentials.
“Financing is completed, and fully in place!” Trump added.
Several world-class artists, musicians and other entertainers have pulled out of performances there since Trump ousted the board, handpicked a new one, assumed the chairmanship, unprecedentedly hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, and had his name tacked onto the building’s façade.
The exodus included the loss of a traditional Christmas Eve jazz concert, hosted by Chuck Redd for the past 20 years, “A Jazz New Year’s Eve” with the group the Cookers, and the annual “Let Freedom Ring” concert honoring the Rev. Marting Luther King Jr., which moved its performance to another venue.
AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Demonstrators hold up signs in front of the Kennedy Center on Dec. 20. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Recently, composer Philip Glass announced he would not premiere his Symphony No. 15: ‘Lincoln’ at the Kennedy Center because its current values did not reflect what the 16th President stood for, and the Washington Post reported so many events have been canceled that the Kennedy Center is devoid of Black History Month programming.
Trump’s second term has also been characterized by construction projects. Since taking office for a second time a year ago, Trump has knocked down the historic East Wing of the White House to make way for a 90,000-square-foot, $400 million ballroom; ripped out the Art Deco styling in the Lincoln bathroom and replaced it with gold and marble; paved over the Rose Garden; encrusted the Oval Office with gold; and announced plans to plant a “Triumphal Arch” modeled after the Parisian Arc de Triomphe near the Lincoln Memorial.
