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- President Donald Trump is seen eyeing a poster that appears to reference the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts being demolished.
- Trump had warned that the landmark performing arts facility “will end up being ripped down” if he is not properly recognized for leading a renovation of the center.
- Rep. Joyce Beatty, the Ohio Democrat who is battling Trump over his efforts to get his name affixed to the Kennedy Center, promptly notified a federal judge about the image and the president’s threat.
US President Donald Trump is seen aboard Air Force One checking a Kennedy Center large printout after landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on September 16, 2026. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
A new photo shows President Donald Trump eyeing a poster that appears to reference the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts being demolished, hours after he warned that the building “will end up being ripped down” if he is not properly recognized for his efforts to renovate it.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, the Ohio Democrat battling Trump over his efforts to get his name affixed to the Kennedy Center, notified a federal judge Thursday morning about the image and the president’s threat. Beatty’s filing contained the original news photo image and a close-up.
On Wednesday, Beatty had asked Judge Christopher Cooper to schedule an emergency hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on what she says is the “unlawful” closure of the Kennedy Center by its board of trustees in violation of a prior order by Cooper.
In her filing Thursday, Beatty’s lawyers told Cooper, “Plaintiff files this Notice to apprise the Court of two new pieces of evidence that came to light last night.”
“First, 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.’”
Beatty’s lawyers added, “Separately, a photo has been circulated on social media depicting President Trump reading a placard on Air Force One that appears to read ‘Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.’”
The filing included a copy of the photo and a blown-up version showing the letters “DEMOLIS.”
Beatty’s lawyers said, “Given the emergency nature of this matter and Defendants’ 10 a.m. filing deadline for their response to Plaintiff’s motion, Plaintiff wanted to make sure the Court and Defendants are aware of this new information.”
The Department of Justice later Thursday morning said that Beatty’s request for a hearing should be denied.
“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 told Cooper in a court filing.
Cooper has yet to rule on whether to hold a hearing on the issue.
The center’s closure came after Cooper on Tuesday rebuffed a new effort by the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to honor Trump by putting his name on the center in recognition of planned renovations to the building. The board voted to close the center for renovations after Cooper issued his order.
Trump later Tuesday said the center would close immediately, and that planned renovations and reconstruction would not occur until Cooper’s initial ruling barring the addition of Trump’s name to the center was reversed by either a federal appeals court or the Supreme Court
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the photo.
In a statement Wednesday, Beatty’s lawyers said, “Closing the Kennedy Center without Judge Cooper’s approval appears to directly violate his order. This is an assault on the rule of law.“
“The board cannot simply ignore Judge Cooper’s rulings whenever it suits them. In this country, no one — including the president — is above the law,” the attorneys, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, said.
They noted that Cooper, in his May ruling ordering that Trump’s name be removed from the center, had also enjoined the board from shuttering the center “until the Board approves any closure consistent with” his ruling “and the Court issues a further Order dissolving or modifying this preliminary injunction.”
