Trump administration: Kennedy Center may be demolished if repairs not made

What the report says

The Trump administration has warned in court that Washington, DC’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could be demolished if planned repairs are not allowed to proceed. In a Monday filing, US Department of Justice lawyers said the venue is in severe condition and argued it could not remain safe or financially viable without help from the president or his administration. They said that if the building continues to decline, it may have to be taken down.

The filing was submitted in response to a legal fight over efforts to stop Donald Trump’s name from being added to the venue’s signage. Joyce Beatty, a Democratic US representative and Kennedy Center board member, sued after Trump-appointed board members voted 20-3 to place the words “restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump” beneath existing signage. A prior dispute had already led a judge to order Trump’s name removed from the façade after the board had renamed the center.

According to the DOJ filing, a simpler option if the center were torn down could be an outdoor amphitheatre on the site. The administration said the current building is structurally unsound and unsafe, while the center’s executive director has previously described renovation work as including major stage, electrical and water-leak repairs. The Kennedy Center, which opened in 1971, has become a flashpoint in Trump’s broader efforts to reshape the institution after taking control of it in 2025.