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Kennedy Center board votes to close main building

September 16, 2026

The Kennedy Center's board voted Tuesday to close the main building for two years of renovations, hours after a federal judge blocked plans to add Trump's name to it.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., is overseen by a board of trustees that President Donald Trump replaced with political allies and that voted in December to add his name to the building.

Key facts

The board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted Tuesday afternoon to close the bulk of the building immediately for two years of renovations. USA Today reports the vote covers the bulk of the center for the next two years. NBC News reports the board's draft resolution cites a construction consultant and the center's director, who consider the main building unsafe for continued occupancy and anticipate further risk to the public and employees without an immediate closure. PBS reports the board cited financial issues and a need for structural repairs, and that it has warned the center is on the brink of bankruptcy. NBC News also reports that Chief Financial Officer Donna Kauranen resigned the same day.

The closure vote followed a ruling from US District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, an appointee of President Barack Obama, in a 22-page order. USA Today, NBC News, CNN and PBS all carry Cooper's holding that the administration cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing. PBS reports the board had suggested inscribing the front of the building with a phrase recognizing Trump for the renovation, or renaming the plaza on the campus after him. CNN reports the board's draft resolutions tie that recognition to Trump's continued oversight of the renovation and to fundraising, arguing that without his name any money raised would have to be returned. NBC News reports Roma Daravi, the center's vice president for public relations, said the center will appeal and move forward with recognizing Trump's contributions, and that the administration appealed Tuesday night. NBC News also reports attorneys Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky called the ruling a win of legal sanity over Trump's vanity.

The vote itself, the two-year timetable, the safety and finance reasons the board gave, and the substance of Cooper's order are corroborated across the outlets. The reach of the ruling is not. One account holds that the judge blocked the closure of the building as well as the inscription, while another holds that an earlier ruling objected only to how a hastily conducted vote was taken, leaving a renovation closure open. Accounts of what Trump said after the ruling also split: one puts a social media statement conditioning the renovation on his name going up, another carries a private tirade aimed at the judge and his wife.

Explaining the ruling issued that day, Cooper wrote: “Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’ blessing.”

Cooper

Still developing

Accounts of what was blocked by the ruling do not line up.

How settled the reporting is

Reported 89% · Contested 3% · Developing 8%

Sources

Toggle read the full reports of 5 of the 7 outlets counted on this event. The other 2 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.