The Kennedy Center: Dead or Alive?
By • September 18, 2026 0 163
Mr. President, please don’t assassinate the Kennedy Center.
The Washington Post reports: “Leaders of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, installed by President Donald Trump, say the center is on the brink of bankruptcy and argue that putting the president’s name on its facade — and thus ensuring his fundraising efforts — may be the only way to avoid imminent and ‘certain fiscal collapse,’ according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
“The bleak assessment is laid out in a 57-page packet distributed to the center’s board of trustees ahead of a special meeting Tuesday [Sept. 15], when the Trump-led board is scheduled to consider two resolutions aimed at addressing twin crises confronting the national performing arts center: one financial, the other physical. Center officials say they could be unable to make payroll or pay routine maintenance contracts ‘within a matter of weeks’ and argue that publicly recognizing Trump could secure his help raising enough money to keep the institution afloat.
“Center officials are also recommending that the board close its main building immediately, warning that remaining open would endanger lives. Board approval, which seems likely, means the center could close as early as Tuesday.”
The Post story proceeds to quote lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and Kennedy Center trustee who sued the center to block the addition of Trump’s name and the planned closure and reconstruction.
“This constant effort to add Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center facade is the definition of insanity,” lawyers Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky said in a statement. “This is now the third attempt to deface this sacred memorial and turn it into a vanity project for one man’s ego.
“Worse still, now Trump is taking the Center hostage and threatening to in effect kill it unless he gets his way. This has to stop.”
At press time, Beatty’s lawyers were to be at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a Sept. 15 hearing regarding her request for emergency injunctive relief from “the Board’s Decisions to Deface Building with Trump’s Name and Shut Down the Center.”
Anxiety levels are sky high on the part of the Trump-installed board, the members of which seem to have forgotten that many of the Kennedy Center’s visitors over its 55-year history — more than two million annually, prior to the administration’s hostile takeover — feel a profound attachment to the place.
We can cite our own excitement at attending opening nights for the National Symphony, Washington National Opera, a musical, a dance performance and other special events. But it is the unique personal experience of each individual who has spent time in this majestic Washington landmark’s corridors and halls — now silenced — that is being dismissed.
As Trump tries to brand the center with his name, he dishonors the legacy of President John F. Kennedy, whose love and encouragement of the arts are well known.
Visible from many spots in Georgetown, the Kennedy Center dominates a breathtaking bend of the Potomac River. The center is part of our everyday life and landscape. Again, it’s personal.
Earlier, a Georgetowner editor wrote: “For me, my first visit to the Kennedy Center was one month after it opened in 1971, when my high school girlfriend visited me at Georgetown University and we saw Cat Stevens, who told the audience, ‘I love your new houseboat.’ It was very special weekend.”
Noting that he and his wife attended numerous events and celebrated her birthday there, he added: “I’ve gone there with many friends and colleagues, and we have met the likes of Placido Domingo, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jerry Seinfeld, Jonathan Winters, Queen Nour and more.”
Author Kitty Kelley tells us: “Trump saying he’ll let the Kennedy Center go into bankruptcy unless they put his name on the building reminds me of the old lawyer story about asking the defendant who killed his parents and begs for leniency because he’s an orphan.”
Of course, sentiment alone will not change this trajectory. Legal motions may help, just barely, but there’s little hope for relief from Congress.
We can still make a ruckus, however. This Friday, Sept. 18, at 6:30 p.m., Hands Off the Arts is leading Hands Off the Kennedy Center, a “joyful gathering centered on uplifting the Kennedy Center, her staff and all the artists past, present and future who have graced her stages.” More information about this community action is available at actionnetwork.org.
See you there. In the words of JFK: “Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”
