President Donald Trump insisted he wouldn’t level the Kennedy Center with his planned renovations, but his explanation of the construction on Monday raised questions about just how far he would actually go.
The president revealed that the project would cost $200 million after he posted on Sunday that the performing arts center would be closed for two years starting in July.
“I’m not ripping it down. We’ll be using the steel, so we’re using the structure,” Trump declared on Monday.
The president claimed they would be “using some of the marble” and “some of the marble comes down.”
But his comments suggested it would be stripped down to the studs starting this summer.
“The steel will all be checked out because it’ll be fully exposed,” Trump said.
It comes just months after the president completely bulldozed the East Wing of the White House in a shocking move that sparked national outrage.
Before he leveled it, the Trump administration had insisted the construction of his new ballroom would largely not interfere with the historic building.
The president, 79, first announced that the Kennedy Center would close for two years for construction in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
“The Trump Kennedy Center will close on July 4th, 2026, in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex,” Trump wrote.
The move comes after Trump also slapped his own name on the outside of the performing arts center that serves as a living memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy last year, despite the law requiring an act by Congress to officially change the name.
The president’s takeover of the Kennedy Center has resulted in a plunge in ticket sales and a series of world-renowned performers cancelling their appearances in protest.
Trump on Monday argued the center was “dangerous” and “dilapidated,” despite using it himself for several events in recent months, including the premiere of his wife’s movie Melania less than a week ago.
“We had a lot of great events there over the last year, but you can’t do any work because people are coming in and out,” Trump rambled from behind his desk in the Oval Office while taking questions on Monday.
He claimed that by closing the center, crews can do the construction “much faster” and do a better quality job.
Some of the other renovations he rattled off included brand-new air conditioning and heating.
In December, the president posted photos featuring several pieces of marble, which he said were being considered for armrests for seating in the cultural institution.
Like when the president had his own name mounted on the outside of the building, multiple members of the Kennedy family have expressed outrage with the president’s renovation plans.
The late president’s lone grandson, Jack Schlossberg, accused Trump of trying to kill Kennedy.
“Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the building. He can try to kill JFK,” Schlossberg wrote on his X account. “But JFK is kept alive by us now rising up to remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice, and restore the freedoms generations fought for.”
Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III called the closure of the Kennedy Center painful but wrote, “President Kennedy would remind us that it is not buildings that define the greatness of a nation. It is the actions of its people and its leaders.”
