President Trump has shared preliminary renderings of his vision for the Kennedy Center—the Washington, D.C. performing arts center designed by midcentury modernist Edward Durell Stone.
On Truth Social, Trump said the center will be like “new” and “highly improved” although, judging from the renderings, the building appears virtually the same as it stands now.
Trump posted the renderings Friday, March 13. The next day, March 14, a U.S. District Judge ordered the White House to hand over its plans for the Kennedy Center to Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who is suing Trump for closing the building and renaming it after himself.
On Sunday, March 15, Congresswoman Beatty said in a statement that she received the White House’s Kennedy Center plans. The Congresswoman however declared that the submittals were “inadequate” and that “there is absolutely no basis to shutter this precious living memorial and beloved institution.”
Congresswoman Beatty serves as an ex-officio on the Kennedy Center’s board. “We called Donald Trump’s bluff, and the results are in,” she said.
“It certainly looks like President Trump is shutting down the Center because he is embarrassed that ticket sales are down and artists are fleeing since his illegal renaming. I’m not letting him get away with it – we’re holding him accountable,” the statement continued.
Trump announced in early February the Kennedy Center would close for two years starting July 4, 2026. He said in the Oval Office on February 2 that “I’ll be using the steel” and “we’re using the structure” of the Kennedy Center, to assure reporters it wouldn’t be a full teardown.
“We’re using some of the marble, and some of the marble comes down, but when it’s open, it’ll be brand new and really beautiful,” Trump said, in describing the $200 million renovation project. “We’re going to have all brand-new air conditioning, heating.”
An architect for the Kennedy Center renovation project has not been named publicly.
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