Kennedy Center Closing for Two Years for Renovations
By • February 2, 2026 One Comment 544
President Trump has announced that the Kennedy Center will close for two years for what he calls “construction, revitalization and complete rebuilding” on July 4.
Trump shared the news on the social media site Truth Social on February 1. He wrote that a group of experts, including musical experts, contractors, arts institutions and other consultants all oversaw a one-year review of the 54-year-old center, which opened on September 8, 1971. Since its opening, the Kennedy Center has been a year-round institution for arts and culture in the D.C. area.
Trump, who recently decided to rename the center The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for the name change. As press time, a running list of artists who have canceled their appearances at the venue inclue:
- Composer Philip Glass
- Singer Renee Fleming
- Vocal Arts DC
- The Brentano Quartet with Hsin-Yun Huang
- The Seattle Children’s Theatre
- The Martha Graham Dance Company
- The Washington National Opera
- Singer-songwriter Sonia De Los Santos
- “Wicked” composer Steven Schwartz
- Banjo player Bela Fleck
- Jazz band The Cookers
- Chuck Redd
- Doug Varone and Dancers
- Folk singers Magpie
- Folk Singer Kristy Lee
- Rock band Low Cut Connie
- Singer Rhiannon Giddens
- Balun
- HBO star Issa Rae
- Performances of the Tony Award-winning musical “Hamilton”
- The U.S. Marine Band
Despite these cancelations, Trump included in his statement that he determined that if the Trump Kennedy Center closed temporarily for construction, rebuilding and revitalization, it can “be without question, the finest performing arts facility of its kind, anywhere in the world.”
In addition to the Kennedyn Center, Trump’s renovations have also included the East Wing, where a new, $400 million White House Ballroom is planned, the Rose Garden, Oval Office and Cabinet Room.
Isn’t it closing because they don’t have a season? I have been a regular patron of the center since its opening, and it is heart breaking to see how Trump has castrated the center and slandered the memorial!