The fight over the repairs, name and even the future existence of the Kennedy Center performing arts complex in Washington, D.C., officially has turned into a circus.
The fight has been going on for months now already, with a leftist judge, appointed by Barack Obama, demanding that the center board is banned from adding President Donald Trump’s name to the facility.
The president has been working on organizing, and raising money for, structural and other repairs to keep the facility safe, as part of a ceiling just collapsed onto an area that would have been used by patrons had it been open at the time.
The latest moves include that the board voting to shut it down because of those safety issues, the judge, Christopher Cooper, demanding an explanation how closing the center down because of safety threats doesn’t go against his order to keep it open, an “image” appearing online of Trump apparently considering a demolition there, and a Democrat member of Congress demanding an immediate court hearing on that image.
Reports Thursday claimed, “newly surfaced photographs appear to show [President Trump] reviewing a document bearing the partially visible words ‘Kennedy Center Dem…’ In zoomed-in images, taken through the windows of Air Force One on September 16, Trump was examining a large presentation board featuring what appears to be an image of the performing arts center alongside partially visible text reading ‘Kennedy Center Dem…’ Another photo reveals more letters, spelling ‘demolis.'”
And Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, immediately complained to a federal judge about the image.
Trump already had warned that unless renovations are done at the building, it could end up “being ripped down.”
He’s explained he’s raised millions of dollars for the renovation and that work could proceed as soon as the center board’s vote to add the Trump name to the center is validated.
Just a day ago, Beatty wanted Cooper to set an emergency hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. She claims the closure, by a nearly unanimous vote of its board, is illegal.
Beatty’s court filing admonished the judge: “Yesterday evening, in response to reporter questions regarding the Kennedy Center project, President Trump stated, ‘for the Trump administration, for me, to get involved, and to take on long term, and to carry it, or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close, it will end up being ripped down.'”
The image appearing to show Trump reviewing a “demolition” plan:
President Trump was photographed looking over a placard that appeared to include the words “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED” over what appeared to be an image of a demolition. https://t.co/4ofGZdKK6c
— ABC News (@ABC) September 17, 2026
The reason for the closure: A ceiling collapse that could have injured patrons:
“Another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed. Fortunately, no one was injured when the main hall’s ceiling collapsed.
This structural failure stems from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance… pic.twitter.com/ooreyKQ9wC
— The Kennedy Center (@TKCOfficial) September 15, 2026
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.
It was caught on security video, missing one of the Center’s… pic.twitter.com/g8PI4wsPzg
— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) September 14, 2026
The collapse was followed by a board vote to shut it down.
The Kennedy Center Board voted nearly unanimously to close the building immediately for safety reasons and prepare for reconstruction. Renovation cannot begin until the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name.
In the meantime, $17M raised by President Trump has been… pic.twitter.com/TUKpKQxfJ5
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 16, 2026
And a fence appeared around the structure.
🇺🇸 The Kennedy Center now has a fence around it and no name deal on the wall
The Trump-aligned board voted Tuesday to close the main hall for a long renovation.
Trump says the building is unsafe and the rebuild does not start unless the courts clear the name.
A judge had just…
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 17, 2026
The Department of Justice has submitted to the court that Beatty’s demand for a hearing should be rejected.
“There is no emergency caused by Defendants’ temporary closure of the Center; the only emergency is the risk to the public and the Center’s employees and artists if it remained fully open without further safety assessment,” the DOJ attorneys said.
Cooper, just this week, had continued to pursue his agenda to banish any recognition of the Trump administration’s work on the building from the site itself.
Beatty charged that closing the building without Cooper’s approval violated his court order, appearing to insist that a facility that could endanger the public remain open.
A report at the Gateway Pundit said, “This is the same Obama judge who, in May, blocked a two-year renovation clo>sure the board had already approved, ordered Trump’s name ripped off the marble facade, and accused the trustees of acting in a ‘derelict’ and ‘seemingly preordained’ way.”
The report said, “On August 13 the board, after receiving more than 160 pages of engineering and cost analysis, again voted to close the main building for about two years and to inscribe that the center had been ‘Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.’ Cooper shot down the inscription on Tuesday. Hours later the board voted almost unanimously to shut the main building immediately, citing structural danger and a recent ceiling failure.”
