Kennedy Center board votes to close after judge blocks Trump's name from building

Transcript

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Amna Nawaz: The board of the Kennedy Center here in Washington, D.C., voted this afternoon to temporarily close the iconic performing arts center, citing financial issues and a need for structural repairs. That came shortly after a federal judge blocked the board from adding President Trump’s name to the center’s building or grounds.

To break it all down, I’m joined by our White House correspondent, Liz Landers.

So, Liz, a couple of things here. Let’s start with the decision from the federal judge about renaming the center. What exactly did the judge say in the decision?

Liz Landers: So, Judge Cooper is a federal judge here in Washington, D.C., and he has been going back and forth about this for months now. You may remember that this started back in May.

In today’s decision, he says — quote — “Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’ blessing.”

So this first came to him in May, and he said at the time, you cannot rename this center unless Congress approves it. The center had tried to do this. They put President Trump’s name up on the front of the building by John F. Kennedy, the slain president, up there at the front, and people sued over this and were upset about it.

So they he — when he said that it had to come down, they put up this tarp, and the tarp is still there, but the president’s name has come down. So then the board suggested, perhaps to get around some of the rulings from Cooper already, they suggested inscribing the front with the phrase — quote — “Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump,” or they suggested renaming the plaza there, which is a big part of the Kennedy Center campus, after President Trump.

The judge quashing those things today. He was not having it.

Amna Nawaz: Separately, there was a Kennedy Center board meeting today. That is where they voted to shut the center down. What is the issue here with the building and finances that they’re citing?

Liz Landers: So the board released this draft resolution that came out yesterday that laid out the issues that they see with the Kennedy Center with both the physical infrastructure of the Kennedy Center and then the finances.

They posted a video of the ceiling collapsing within the main part of the Kennedy Center recently. You’re seeing that right there, crashing to the ground. They said that this happened at the beginning of September, and that therefore it is a hazard to have people in the building.

This resolution, though, indicated that the entire building would be closed and would not reopen until 2028. So it would take more than a year to do this. Now, the pushback on this has been that the Kennedy Center has gone through renovations before, and the idea is to just close a part of it and still be able to have performances and have the center open to the American public while parts of it are being renovated.

Today’s meeting featured, we’re told, a contentious back-and-forth between President Donald Trump, who’s the chair of the board, and one of the Democratic members of the board, Joyce Beatty. She’s a congresswoman.

Her counsel released in a statement saying that Trump verbally berated her, and we heard from the president on TRUTH Social today, warning that if the Kennedy Center isn’t — warning that if it is not renamed with his name, it will not be renovated.

He wrote — quote — “If the ruling is a negative one going forward, 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.”

Amna Nawaz: So, Liz, where does all this go next? What are we seeing in the way of indications from Judge Cooper?

Liz Landers: I want to be clear, the Kennedy Center is not closing down immediately. Cooper has to approve the renovations and the closing of the Kennedy Center before this happens.

A source familiar with this litigation told us that they do not believe that Judge Cooper is going to allow the center to close until a discovery process moves forward. In other words, the Kennedy Center will have to reveal some of their internal deliberations And plans.

This stuff happens behind closed doors. Some of it leaks out into the press, which is why we’re reporting on this. But he’s not going to allow that to happen until this discovery takes place.

Amna, you have done interviews about this with the former head of the Kennedy Center, but their ticket sales have plummeted in the last year. They have been having financial issues. The board has warned that the center is on the brink of bankruptcy.

We asked the Kennedy Center for comment about all this. We did not hear back in time for the broadcast.

Amna Nawaz: That’s our White House correspondent, Liz Landers.

Liz, thank you very much.

Liz Landers: Of course.