Hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Friday, protesting President Donald Trump’s plans to renovate and reconstruct the venue after it was shut down over safety concerns, according to ABC News.
The crowd gathered on the center’s steps to call for Trump’s removal as chairman of the institution, accusing him of “failing to protect and manage it,” the outlet reported. The event was organized by the group Hands Off the Arts, which has staged multiple protests at the venue this year.
A Human Chain Around the Building
Organizers said they expected hundreds to turn out for musical performances, testimonials and speeches before forming a human chain around the building, ABC News reported. Video footage from the scene showed the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., performing outside the venue as a drag queen looked on.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) addressed the gathering, directing sharp criticism at the president’s approach to the institution. “I keep wondering how insecure, how narcissistic, how egomaniacal you have to be to say you’ll demolish a building if they don’t put your name on it,” Beyer said, according to ABC News.
More footage showed protesters chanting “Hands off! Hands off!” outside the venue on Friday.
Trump: Reconstruction Won’t Happen If Court Rejects Board’s Approved Name
The protest followed a Truth Social post from Trump on Tuesday in which he said the Kennedy Center’s board had agreed “almost unanimously” to close the building for safety reasons so that reconstruction could begin. But he warned that the large-scale renovation “cannot begin” until the D.C. Circuit rules on the board’s approved name for the venue.
“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,” Trump wrote. He added that DOJ attorneys would seek an expedited appeal, and said $17 million he raised has been placed into the Kennedy Center’s account “to keep it afloat.”
The center was closed after a chunk of ceiling fell, the New York Times reported. Trump addressed the incident directly in a separate statement, describing what he called a dangerously deteriorating structure.
“The Kennedy Center is in a virtual state of collapse, and has been for many years,” he said. “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.”
A Months-Long Fight Over the Venue’s Future
The clash is the latest chapter in a broader dispute over the Kennedy Center’s condition and direction. In April, Breitbart News reported on malfunction and disrepair beneath the halls and stages of the venue, publishing photos documenting the problems.
In August, Breitbart News reported that a legal filing from the Trump administration described the Kennedy Center as “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital,” arguing in favor of an ambitious renovation of the building.
The Friday rally drew attention not only to the physical state of the venue but also to the political fight over its leadership and identity. Opponents of the president’s plans argue that his push to attach his name to the building, combined with the closure and proposed reconstruction, amounts to an inappropriate intervention in a national cultural institution.
Supporters of the renovation, meanwhile, point to the administration’s stated safety concerns and the $17 million Trump says he raised to keep the center operating. The board’s decision to close the building immediately, pending reconstruction, has left the venue dark for performances in the meantime.
The dispute now appears headed for the courts, with the D.C. Circuit set to weigh in on the board’s approved name for the center — a ruling that, under Trump’s own account, could determine whether reconstruction moves forward at all.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/09/19/watch-hundreds-protest-trumps-attempt-renovate-collapsing-kennedy-center-hands-off/