Updated September 15, 2026 at 2:28 PM AKDT
The Kennedy Center's board of directors on Tuesday voted to close the historic arts center in a meeting that began just minutes after a federal judge once again stopped a plan to put President Trump's name on the building.
The president immediately vowed to cancel a planned renovation of the facility unless the decision about adding his name is reversed by a higher court.
Trump wrote: "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. 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."
The plaintiff in the federal suit, Rep. Joyce Beatty, Democrat of Ohio, filed Trump's statement with the federal judge.
Administrators of the Kennedy Center told the board in recent days that the physical plant of the complex's main building is unsafe, and that the center's finances are "within weeks" of bankruptcy.
Kennedy Center officials did not reply to NPR's requests for comment.
Limited offerings will remain
Even before Tuesday's vote, the Kennedy Center was down to a skeletal version of itself. Ticket sales had plummeted, and many prominent artists had canceled planned appearances, saying that the center had become politicized under Trump. There were very few events on the calendar. Most of the administrative staff had already either been fired or had left.
The board has been signposting its desire to close the center's main venues for months. A small, fairly recently opened extension called the REACH will remain open, in part to fulfill the Congressional mandate of making the living memorial to President John F. Kennedy open and accessible to the public.
Additionally, the board wrote in documents filed with the federal court that it intends to make allowances for two of the center's signature programs, as well as for the National Symphony Orchestra, whose budget is tethered to the Kennedy Center.
A proposed resolution by the board, included in those documents, pledges "continued programming in the REACH and offsite," as well as continued support for "the National Symphony Orchestra, and continuing the Center's longstanding tradition of presenting the Kennedy Center Honors and Mark Twain Prize."
That, the resolution adds, will enable enough "engagement" with artists, donors and patrons so that "a two-year closure of the main building will not unduly affect its ability to ramp up programming in a revitalized main building in 2028."
Need for Congressional approval
A lengthy memorandum circulated to the board before the vote, which NPR obtained on Monday, deals strictly with the physical plant. It does not detail any plans of how programming will "ramp up" in the years to come. Marquee artists of the caliber previously presented by the Kennedy Center usually schedule their performances years in advance.
But the board had doubled down on its argument that only Trump can "save" the Kennedy Center. Most of the current Kennedy Center board members are Trump allies who were picked by the president, who now also serves as the arts institution's chair. Those members include individuals like former attorney general Pam Bondi, Fox host Laura Ingraham, and Dana Kraft, the wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft – people very close to Trump.
This board has no known experience in the administration of a performing arts institution. The last president of the Kennedy Center, former Ambassador Richard Grenell, tried to insist that every performance be revenue-generating or at least revenue-neutral. Its current executive director and chief operating officer, Matt Floca, was elevated from his position as head of facilities for the Kennedy Center. Unlike his peers at similar centers across the country, Floca has no prior experience in artistic direction, fundraising or arts administration.
Tuesday's board meeting began just minutes after a federal judge, Christopher Cooper, ruled that the board cannot put President Trump's name back on the building, or rename the physical grounds of the arts center as the "President Donald J. Trump Plaza."
In a 22-page decision, Cooper referred to an earlier ruling, as well Congress' mandate regarding the living memorial to John F. Kennedy. "Simply put," he wrote, "Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing. The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted."
The ruling came as part of the ongoing federal lawsuit filed by Rep. Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board. She originally sued last December to stop the board from renaming the arts institution as "The Trump Kennedy Center."
Beatty's lawsuit does not address the renovation plans.
In his decision, Cooper left open for now the possibility of whether or not the board can name its planned $100 million fundraising campaign "The Trump Kennedy Center Fund," or include any such plaque or other signage at the center eventually. The board has said that using Trump's name is crucial to its efforts to raise money for the center. In his decision, Cooper wrote: "The fund has raised nothing yet."
The board has placed Trump at the locus of its efforts, arguing both publicly and in court that the president is the only person who can fundraise at such a massive scale or successfully oversee such an extensive renovation project – and, as such, deserved public credit in the form of signage on the front of the arts complex.
In a statement emailed to NPR Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Beatty wrote: "The law is extremely clear: The John F. Kennedy Center is named for President Kennedy – and no one else. But President Trump is holding the Kennedy Center hostage unless he can put his name on this sacred memorial. The Court just rejected this proposal for the second time. This unlawfulness is as breathtaking as it is wrong, and it needs to stop."
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