WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington will close for approximately two years to undergo a sweeping renovation, as the historic cultural institution grapples with declining ticket sales and mounting backlash from artists.
The closure is set to begin on July 4, coinciding with the United States’ 250th anniversary. Trump said the decision is aimed at accelerating construction and revitalisation efforts at the venue, which he has placed under his direct leadership since returning to office.
“I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, according to AFP.
He added that the move would be subject to approval by the center’s board, whose members he appointed after assuming the role of chairman last year.
Trump argued that continuing concerts, operas, musicals, ballet performances and interactive arts programming during renovation would slow construction, making a full temporary closure necessary.
“The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World,” he said. “America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come.”
The scope of the proposed “complete rebuilding” remains unclear. The Kennedy Center, which opened in 1971 as a living memorial to assassinated president John F Kennedy, has long been criticised by Trump as outdated and in need of a major facelift.
The announcement sparked immediate speculation on social media over whether the institution’s financial difficulties had forced the shutdown, or whether Trump might even consider demolishing the existing structure and replacing it with a new complex.
Author and activist Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family, posted on X that the center was struggling because “no one wants to perform there any longer,” adding that “everybody’s canceling.”
Since Trump reshaped the board and added his name to the building’s facade — a move that did not receive the required approval from Congress — several high-profile artists and productions have withdrawn. These include the musical Hamilton, operatic soprano Renée Fleming and composer Philip Glass.
The Washington National Opera also recently announced plans to leave the Kennedy Center, which has been its home since the venue opened more than five decades ago.
While some artists have cited the rebranding and Trump’s leadership as reasons for their departure, others have pointed to logistical challenges and financial strain. The institution has also seen internal upheaval, with Kevin Couch resigning as senior vice president of artistic planning just days after his appointment in January, according to National Public Radio.
A Washington Post review published last October found that Kennedy Center ticket sales had fallen to their lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving tens of thousands of seats unsold last year.
In December, Trump hosted the annual Kennedy Center Honors gala, but television viewership dropped to a record low, down 25 percent from 2024, according to Nielsen data.
