The planned closing of the Kennedy Center is President Donald J. Trump’s method of covering up his failure as the Chair of the Board of the Kennedy Center.
The President of the United States appoints the majority of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, which are then approved by Congress. In 2025, Trump’s handpicked board members voted to make him the President of the Kennedy Center.
Trump has taken further action to rename the “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” to the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” unfairly adding his own name to the building, which is meant as a memorial to Kennedy.
Since Trump took office, the Kennedy Center has seen a record vacancy rate of 43%, compared with the normal rate of 7-20% between 2023 and 2024, according to a Washington Post analysis. Many high-profile artists and performances have also been distancing themselves from the Performing Arts Center.
Many of the Kennedy Center’s annual residencies have been suspended. One of which, the Washington National Opera, had been performing at the Kennedy Center for over 50 years since the building’s inauguration in 1971. The National Symphony Orchestra, while not having pulled out from the Kennedy Center, faces trouble obtaining performers and guest conductors amid the administrative changes. The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, famous for its namesake choreographer and activist, has also pulled out.
Famous television writer and producer Shonda Rhimes, behind popular shows like Bridgerton and Grey’s Anatomy, has resigned from the Kennedy Center’s board. Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Hamilton cast have also cancelled their scheduled run.
Since opening in 1971, the Kennedy Center has never been closed for an extended period, as it is planned to be for the next two years. In the past, renovations have been made without significant disruptions to the Kennedy Center programming. Additionally, NPR notes that neither Trump nor the Kennedy Center board has provided any evidence to support their claim that the building is in disrepair.
Overall, the direction of the Kennedy Center since Trump’s appointment of his close allies as board members and his own appointment as Chair of the Board has been one of ruin. There is no clarity on what will happen to the annual events at the Kennedy Center, such as the Kennedy Center Honors, which in the past have been awarded to people such as Aretha Franklin, or the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, both of which will likely suffer from Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center.
Trump’s plan to close the Kennedy Center for renovation comes not as a shock but as a testament to how his divisive political ideologies so deeply contrast the inclusive spirit integral to the Performing Arts.
