The board of the Kennedy Center voted on Tuesday to close over financial issues and a dispute over putting President Trump's name on the iconic performing arts venue, the AP reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick participated in the board meeting, according to one of the sources. Lutnick's wife, Allison, is a member of the Trump-appointed board. Prior to Tuesday's board meeting, a federal judge again blocked the Kennedy Center board from adding Trump's name to the structure or grounds, saying it would violate an earlier ruling that his name was illegally added to the building.
- Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that, "Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing."
Trump weighed in on Truth Social shortly after the vote, claiming the closure was necessary for public safety and strongly implying that the fate of the Kennedy Center depended largely on whether his name is attached. "The closing will take place immediately, however, th e 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," he wrote. "If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be ... the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place."
The board had recently floated multiple options for getting Trump's name on the grounds, including inscriptions like "Renovation and endowment overseen by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund." Another option: "With Gratitude for Support from President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund." The board's proposal flatly states that "without such appropriate recognition" it's unlikely that Trump will financially support what the board says are desperately needed renovations.
- The vote came 10 days after a section of ceiling plaster collapsed and fell 60 feet to the floor of the center's Grand Foyer, the Washington Post reports. In a post on Truth Social before the board's vote, Trump said a "large piece of concrete and steel" fell and a security guard escaped "certain death" by just 60 seconds.
- Trump said the building was in a state of "virtual collapse," though critics have accused the center's leaders of exaggerating problems to justify closure, the Post reports. In his post, Trump also blasted Cooper as a "very hostile and conflicted" judge and warned that the center is likely "destined to doom."
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