‘DILAPIDATED’

Trump Shuts Down Kennedy Center After Artists Keep Canceling

The president called it “tired, broken, and dilapidated.”

President Donald Trump is shuttering the Kennedy Center for a MAGA makeover after a series of cancellations at the venue.

Nearly a year after hijacking the storied cultural institution, the 79-year-old president announced on Truth Social that he would “temporarily” close the center for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.”

Trump, who has attempted to rename the Kennedy Center after himself, said it would cease “Entertainment Operations” on July 4 for roughly two years.

Dismissing the capital’s premiere performing arts center as “tired, broken, and dilapidated,” the president pledged to remake it into a “new and beautiful Landmark.”

Trump, a former real estate developer, said he had conducted a one-year review of the institution with “Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants,” and considered both a partial and full closure.

He justified shutting the center completely, claiming that “interruptions with Audiences from the many events” would impact the speed and quality of the makeover.

Trump added that the renovation is “totally subject to Board approval,” without mentioning that he installed MAGA loyalists to the historically bipartisan board in February last year.

The president claimed that “financing is completed, and fully in place!”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Kennedy Center for comment.

Trump began his MAGAfication of the Kennedy Center last year by purging its board and firing its president and chairman. He appointed loyalist Ric Grenell as president and installed himself as chairman.

But the makeover was poorly received by audiences and performers alike, with the center facing plummeting ticket sales and a wave of artist cancellations.

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Renowned composer Philip Glass pulled the world premiere of his highly-awaited Symphony No. 15: “Lincoln” last week, blaming “current leadership.” A day later, the center’s new programming head resigned after less than a week on the job.

Earlier this month, Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming backed out due to what the center described as a “scheduling conflict,” and the Martha Graham Dance Company canceled its April show.

The Washington National Opera similarly ended its five-decade residency at the center earlier this month.

With difficulty booking talent, the Kennedy Center has leaned on programming tied to the president and his family, such as last Thursday’s premiere of Melania, the first lady’s vanity documentary.

Meanwhile, ticket sales at the center fell sharply in 2025, according to data collected by the Washington Post. The annual Kennedy Center Honors, hosted by Trump in December, also attracted its smallest-ever audience.

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Trump has insisted that the center’s challenges predate his chairmanship.

“People don’t realize that The Trump Kennedy Center suffered massive deficits for many years and, like everything else, I merely came in to save it and, if possible, make it far better than ever before!” he wrote in a Truth Social post last week.

The Kennedy Center was named after President John F. Kennedy shortly after his assassination. Construction began in 1964, and the building opened to the public in 1971.

SHIFTING BLAME

Trump Washes Hands of Kennedy Center ‘Deficit’ Post-Takeover

Julia Ornedo

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