Judge orders Trump to give 30 days notice before any steps to demolish Kennedy Centre
The order came after US President Donald Trump said the Kennedy Centre could be “ripped down” if his plans for the venue were not carried out.
A tarp covers portions of the sign at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sep 16, 2026, in Washington. (Photo: AP/Allison Robbert)
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WASHINGTON: A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday (Sep 17) to provide at least 30 days’ notice before taking any steps to demolish the Kennedy Centre, the landmark performing arts venue that has become a flashpoint in his efforts to reshape the US capital.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper issued the order after lawyers for a Democratic congresswoman who is suing to keep the venue open and Trump’s name off its facade submitted new evidence citing the Republican president’s comments on Wednesday referring to demolishing the Kennedy Centre.
“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina, referring to putting his name on the facility established by Congress and opened in 1971 as a memorial to slain President John Kennedy.
Matt Floca, the Kennedy Centre’s Trump-backed executive director, said in a court filing earlier on Thursday that the building was being temporarily closed to assess safety risks in areas “exhibiting severe structural deterioration.”
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Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty, who sued Trump last year over his Kennedy Centre plans, responded in a filing in federal court in Washington that the closure “is a recipe for defendants extending their shutdown forever and closing the Kennedy Centre for the next two years – the very thing this court said they could not do without its permission.”
Beatty’s lawyers also cited a photo circulating on social media that depicted the president aboard Air Force One looking at a poster they said appeared to be titled “Kennedy Centre DEMOLISHED.” The photo has not been independently verified by Reuters.
Trump last year had the White House’s historic East Wing demolished to make way for a ballroom project he has pursued.
EMERGENCY HEARING DENIED
Cooper turned down a request by Beatty for an emergency hearing on her lawsuit after the Kennedy Centre’s board, including Trump and his hand-picked appointees, voted this week to close the venue for up to two years for a US$257 million renovation project.
Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, said the venue is no longer accessible to the public during normal operating hours. New barriers were visible outside the building on Wednesday.
Beatty and other critics have accused Trump of seeking to place his name on the Kennedy Centre out of vanity. Trump’s name had been placed on the building’s facade until the judge in May ordered it removed, saying only Congress can change the name.
Cooper earlier directed the board to explain by Thursday whether the administration’s plan violates an earlier order he issued limiting its ability to shut its doors. The board said on Thursday morning that it was not in violation of the order, and the seven-day emergency closure was separate from the larger renovation plans.
The Trump administration said it would ask the judge by Friday to dissolve the prior order to allow for what the government called “closure necessary to complete the restoration and renovations.”
Cooper, in a ruling on Tuesday, rejected the center’s latest effort to put Trump’s name on the building to reflect his role in the planned renovation. The administration has appealed, and Trump said on social media the Kennedy Centre “is destined to doom” if it is not permitted to close for repairs.
Source: Reuters/fs
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