Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center

The renaming set off a legal fight. Later in December 2025, the board Trump had picked voted to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center, and his name went up on the facade, although the law creating the center prohibits renaming the building and Congress holds the authority to change its name.^[3] Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat on the board, disputed the White House's account of a unanimous vote and sued, arguing that the renaming violated federal law.^[7]

The renaming set off another round of cancellations, including a Christmas Eve jazz concert that had been a tradition for more than 20 years. The center's president, Richard Grenell, said the artists canceling had been booked by "the previous far left leadership."^[8] The center sued Chuck Redd, the musician who canceled that concert. A judge dismissed the suit in June 2026 and in August ordered the center to pay him more than $250,000 in legal fees and costs.^[9]

The board then moved to close the building. In March 2026, at a meeting Trump convened, the board voted to shut the center for two years after the July 4 celebrations for a $257 million renovation project.^[10] In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the center could not be named for anyone else unless Congress approved it and blocked the closure. Trump responded that "the Radical Left" wanted the center to "DIE."^[4] In August, the board voted again to inscribe Trump's name on the facade and to close the building for renovations.^[11]

The main building closed in September. On the same day a federal judge blocked the center from restoring the name, the board voted to close it. Center officials warned of "certain fiscal collapse" and said restoring Trump's name might be the only way to get him to "lead the financial rescue of the center."^[12] The executive director, Matt Floca, told the court he had closed the building for at least a week of emergency repairs because of "acute risks to public safety" from structural deterioration. The Justice Department said the closure was unrelated to the board's plans for long-term renovation.^[13] Former employees later alleged in a letter to Congress that the center's leadership had canceled a plan to overhaul its leaking infrastructure months earlier.^[14] Judge Cooper then required 30 days' notice before any major change to the building, including demolition.^[5]

At the end of September, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah blocked an attempt to fast-track a bipartisan bill that would bar the demolition of presidential memorials such as the Kennedy Center without congressional approval.^[15] In October, members of Congress pressed legislation to bar Trump from demolishing the building,^[16] and the White House formally invoked executive privilege to shield records sought by a Democratic congresswoman who sits on the center's board.^[17] That month, this year's Kennedy Center Honors were moved to Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, the first time they would be held anywhere other than the center.^[18] The court fight over the center's name and its renovation was still unresolved.

A separate dispute surfaced in October. The White House looked into a claim by Alina Habba that a $6 million donation to the center had gone missing.^[19] Grenell was accused of offering her husband access to Trump in exchange for the donation.^[20] In late October, plaintiffs asked a judge to compel the administration to disclose emails and texts about Trump's influence over the center,^[21] and in November the center named its 2026 honorees, with the ceremony moved off site for the first time amid the renovation fight.^[22]