The board of the Kennedy Center voted Tuesday to close the Washington performing arts venue immediately, according to The Gateway Pundit, acting on the same day a federal judge barred President Donald Trump’s name from the building’s facade. Trump, who serves as chairman of the board, said in a statement that the closure is for “Safety reasons” and to allow reconstruction to begin, but warned that the renovation itself cannot start until an appeals court rules on the naming dispute.
Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled Tuesday that returning Trump’s name to the facade โ or adding it anew to recognize his renovation efforts โ would violate an earlier injunction as well as federal law limiting memorials at the institution to President John F. Kennedy. In his ruling, Cooper wrote that he did not believe the addition would boost revenue or donations, according to The Gateway Pundit’s account, pointing to a period in which “artists cancelled performances, the Washington National Opera ended its 50-year residency, and ticket sales and viewership of the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast dropped precipitously.”
Third closure vote, long-running court fight
Tuesday’s vote was not the first time the board has moved to shut the building. According to the report, the board has voted repeatedly to close the center, only to have those decisions tied up in court. This marks the third time the board has said the building must close. Former board member Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who brought the issue before a federal court, argued that the board needed to conduct more due diligence before shutting the venue down.
Trump had raised $19.2 million for what the report describes as a much-needed restoration of the center, and the plan had called for renaming the building the Trump Kennedy Center and closing it for two years to overhaul the facade and structure. A recent ceiling collapse was cited as underscoring concerns Trump raised when he first said, upon taking office, that the Kennedy Center should be closed so renovations could proceed.
Trump: ‘Reconstruction cannot begin’ without a favorable ruling
In a statement released after Cooper’s ruling, Trump said the board agreed “almost unanimously” to close the building, and that $17 million he raised has been placed into a Kennedy Center account “to keep it afloat.” He said Justice Department attorneys will seek an expedited appeal.
“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,” Trump said. “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.”
Separately, The Gateway Pundit also reported that the board’s vote was tied to the center’s “dire financial position,” attributing that description to the board’s stated rationale.
A storied venue caught in a political and legal vise
The Kennedy Center has long stood as one of the capital’s premier cultural institutions, home to the Washington National Opera and the annual Kennedy Center Honors broadcast. The dispute over the building’s name and its renovation has drawn the venue into a broader legal fight over how federal memorial law applies to the site โ and over who gets to put their stamp on it.
The immediate practical consequences are stark: the building is now closed to the public, and the reconstruction the board says it needs is on hold. Whether the D.C. Circuit moves quickly on the naming question will determine whether the renovation proceeds at all, or whether the Kennedy Center remains shuttered for the foreseeable future. The Gateway Pundit characterized the outcome as “such a sad story,” adding that “the America-hating left would rather destroy the country than not get their way” โ language reflecting the outlet’s editorial stance rather than independent reporting.
As of Tuesday evening, there was no indication of when the appeals court might take up the board’s approved name, and no timeline for reopening the building if the ruling goes against the board. For now, the Kennedy Center’s doors are closed, its renovation in limbo, and its future โ and its name โ in the hands of a federal appeals court.
Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com โ https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/board-votes-close-kennedy-center-after-leftist-obama/