By Isabella McHugh
Staff Writer
President Donald Trump recently announced the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ closure on Feb. 3, due to construction plans, according to NPR News. Its doors will remain closed for two years starting July 4.
The Washington cultural institution is in shock, and waiting intently to hear what will happen with all the employees and subscribers, according to the New York Times. Many in the article report that they did not hear about this before, and that it came as abrupt news.
“We’re kind of in shock right now,” Anne Vantine said, according to the New York Times. She is the president of a union local that represents box office workers.
Questions have since arisen as to why the center needed to be closed in order to follow through with renovations. NBC news reports that in 2019 the Kennedy Center had undergone renovations without needing to close down.
Trump responded by saying, “the quality of Construction will not be nearly as good, and the time to completion, because of interruptions with Audiences from the many Events using the Facility, will be much longer,” according to NBC news.
He announced that the project’s budget will cost about $200 million, and with the intensive goals he wishes to achieve, it is unclear what his grand plan will be, according to NPR news.
Even members of the Republican Congress didn’t see this coming. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, “I need to find out exactly why the decision was made. I don’t know, and I don’t know that anybody else knows,” according to NBC News.
CBS News asked Trump if his plan was to tear the building down, to which he replied, “I'm not ripping it down. I'll be using the steel, so we're using the structure.”
The project’s details have not been reported, such as who will be overseeing it. Trump discussed having meetings with “Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions and other Advisors and Consultants,” but didn’t give specifics.
Many performances were pulled in a short time frame, as reported in December 2025 by CBS. The cancellations were announced after Trump’s name was added to the building. In many of these cases, artists raised concern over the building’s name change and perceived political affiliation.
Trump claimed the building was “dilapidated” and had to close in order to build a “new and spectacular Entertainment Complex,” according to the New York Times.
Richard Grenell, interim executive director of the Kennedy Center, claimed the closure was a temporary and strategic move to renovate the “decrepit” structure.
Those who cherish the building do report seeing a need for renovation, but have concerns about the scope of the project, fearing the prized building will be remodeled out of its charm, NBC reported.
