‘A BIG LOSER’

Trump Cornered on Diva Demand to Rename Kennedy Center

The president said the JFK memorial may just be “ripped down” if he didn’t get his way.

President Donald Trump melted down at the Kennedy Center with new threats after being quizzed on his demands to put his name on the iconic building.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump, 80, even suggested that the D.C. memorial for slain president John F. Kennedy may be “ripped down” if his stipulations weren’t met.

Trump was questioned about the fate of the Kennedy Center after the board voted Tuesday to close the building against a court order. Trump has claimed that renovations are badly needed, and insisted that having his name on the exterior—which a federal judge prohibited—will help fundraise for the fixes given his “unrivaled expertise and experience in real estate and construction, and prominence as President.”

TRUMP HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

Kennedy Center Closed Off as Panicked Trump Defies Judge

Sarah Ewall-Wice

On the tarmac in Charlotte, Trump took questions from reporters, initially about the economy and his trade war with Canada, until one journalist mentioned the Kennedy Center.

“Mr. President, why is it so important that you have your name on the Kennedy Center memorial for JFK?” the reporter asked.

“Well, it’s a very easy question to answer because it’s a mess,” he replied. “The Kennedy Center for many years has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s a big loser, financially. And many other places like that, like Carnegie Hall and various places throughout the country, they lose a lot of money.”

“They were losing, the Kennedy Center—sometimes hundreds of millions, before I got involved,” he went on. “So for the Trump administration, for me, to... take that long-term and to carry it or to raise money to carry it, I think 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. It’s in very, very bad shape. Very dangerous shape.”

Trump on Tuesday shared a video on Truth Social emphasizing his claim that repairs are necessary. A Kennedy Center press release has also described the “urgency” of the situation.

When Trump finished his answer at the Wednesday press gaggle, the same reporter repeated her question: “Why is it that important for your name to go on the building?”

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Another reporter then asked if he was going to tear it down.

“I’d like to be able to save it, but it’s going to take a lot of subsidies into the future, and for us, and for the administration to do that, I think the Trump administration should be recognized,” he said. Trump then ended the press gaggle and walked away, ignoring a reporter’s inquiry about his name on the building.

Despite Trump’s demands, a federal judge has ordered that Trump’s name cannot be on the building in any form.

District Judge Christopher Cooper on Tuesday prohibited the institution from inscribing “renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump” on the main building or renaming the site the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”

“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing. The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted,” wrote the judge, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

After that ruling, the board, filled largely with Trump loyalists, voted to close the center for two years.

Trump then wrote on Truth Social: “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. 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.”

On CNN Wednesday, Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the board who is fighting Trump’s plans in court, said “the country should be in an uproar” over the potential razing of the building.

“It‘s clear to me that the president has thrown a tantrum,” she said. “He didn‘t get his way in the court, and he was challenged in the board meeting. And so now he‘s doing what people do when they throw a tantrum and they don‘t get their way: ‘I’m going to tear it down.’”

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