Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Trump says Kennedy Center will close in July for two years for renovations
CNN ^ | February | Piper Hudspeth Blackburn

Posted on 02/01/2026 4:47:20 PM PST by Miami Rebel

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington will close for roughly two years to allow for extensive renovations, President Donald Trump said Sunday.

Trump said on social media he determined that the closure, slated for July 4, “will produce a much faster and higher quality result” as he seeks to rebuild the complex.

Trump said the move is pending approval by the center’s board, whose members were picked by the president.

“This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before,” he said, adding that financing is “fully in place.”

CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center and the White House for additional details.

The president’s announcement comes as the nation’s preeminent performing arts center contends with a flood of cancellations that began soon after the board added the president’s name to the complex. Most recently, award-winning composer Philip Glass withdrew the June world premiere of his symphony based on Abraham Lincoln.

Trump has made reshaping the Kennedy Center a priority in his second term. His “One Big, Beautiful Bill” included $257 million for “necessary expenses for capital repair, restoration, maintenance backlog, and security structures.” Trump has touted restoration of the exterior marble, the interior chairs and “fully” renovated stages, which he said last summer will be complete within a year.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: captainpainttard; captainpainttroll; downinflames; itwasfinebefore; itwastrashbefore; kennedycenter; tdsbaitthread
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061 next last
To: Captainpaintball

LOL!
Your tampon needs changing.😂


21 posted on 02/01/2026 5:27:33 PM PST by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Miami Rebel

The renovations are probably well needed.
In two years , Trump’s present and last term will be coming to a close, so that will mean fewer distractions, fewer times to spotlight any controversy over the name change. In my opinion, putting his name in front of the Kennedy Center was not needed, and has predictably become yet another litmus test or rallying point for ‘the resistance’ that did not have to occur.

I suspect once the updates are all done and President Trump leaves office, that center will go back to being known as the Kennedy Center and
that Gulf will revert to being known as Gulf of Mexico.
Conservatives don’t really lose anything of significance should those two things take place. We have gained in other areas, such as better and more consistent enforcement of immigration laws. Much less DEI in employment and education, Much less ‘Trans are always right” belief system than before. These issues are where changes really matter and effect many people on day to day basis.


22 posted on 02/01/2026 5:27:48 PM PST by lee martell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mairdie

“ He’s into classic architecture, which I love.”
👍


23 posted on 02/01/2026 5:28:39 PM PST by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Allegra

The preservation of culture is imperative.


24 posted on 02/01/2026 5:30:34 PM PST by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: 9422WMR

“In the Bible, the rainbow is primarily a divine, everlasting sign of God’s covenant with Noah, his descendants, and all living creatures, promising never again to destroy them again.”

So there Pagan!


25 posted on 02/01/2026 5:35:23 PM PST by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Captainpaintball

Seek help.

Trump 100%

And then some.🇺🇸👍


26 posted on 02/01/2026 5:36:49 PM PST by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Miami Rebel

so sad, too bad


27 posted on 02/01/2026 5:37:58 PM PST by Third Person
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mairdie

....and remittances to countries that hate us through their illegal aliens here who can afford to send thousands of dollars a month to their families in their home countries thanks to the generosity of US welfare programs which have never been and are not now policed the way they should have been.


28 posted on 02/01/2026 6:02:22 PM PST by 4Runner ("I gotta join a union to get paid for loafin'?" " Sure ya do!" --Abbott & Costello)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

Absolutely true.


29 posted on 02/01/2026 6:04:52 PM PST by mairdie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: MotorCityBuck

“ In the Bible, the rainbow”
It has been stolen by the democRATS and represents everything they support, the letter sexuality, trans-nonsense and all the smut they find holy.


30 posted on 02/01/2026 6:06:57 PM PST by 9422WMR
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Captainpaintball

I don’t think he’s shutting it down to make it bigger and better. He’s shutting it down because the leftist actors and musicians are so Trump deranged they won’t perform there. Cancellation after cancellation. It’s just a face saving excuse.
It’s tough enough to make a living in the classical arts and the venues that allow one are far and few between. Look what’s happening at the Met. But that doesn’t stop their TDS career suicide mission

https://abc7ny.com/post/metropolitan-opera-house-announces-layoffs-salary-cuts-amid-financial-woes-ny-times-reports/18440938/


31 posted on 02/01/2026 6:07:14 PM PST by CaptainK ("No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up” )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: 9422WMR

Do you find yourself triggered?


32 posted on 02/01/2026 6:09:22 PM PST by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Miami Rebel

The Kennedy Center badly needs renovation. I used to go there almost twice a month, but the predictable wokeness, the parking fees, the inexcusably bad acoustics, the shabby and dated interior, the NSO just typically mailing it in, and the many poor sight lines drove me to find other, better options. Happily there are many nearby: the Strathmore, the Meyrhoff, and the Clairice.


33 posted on 02/01/2026 6:12:53 PM PST by PUGACHEV
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Captainpaintball

I worry as much about owning property in a blue county of a red state, as I do if I owned property in a red county of a blue state. There are lots of these permutations, and no one seems to be doing a damned thing about them. We need help. It is way past time for the corrupted judiciary to be short-circuited and posse comitatus and habeas corpus suspended, with a declaration of martial law. Does he have the stones to do it, I don’t know. We have three years left.


34 posted on 02/01/2026 6:25:41 PM PST by 4Runner ("I gotta join a union to get paid for loafin'?" " Sure ya do!" --Abbott & Costello)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: j.havenfarm

They can always add on a ballroom. LOL


35 posted on 02/01/2026 7:38:48 PM PST by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Gone but not forgiven.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

Comment #36 Removed by Moderator

To: Miami Rebel

Shut it down. Why is the government involved with this nonsense?


37 posted on 02/01/2026 7:42:50 PM PST by Ge0ffrey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner
Does he have the stones to do it, I don’t know. We have three years left.

He has ALL THE AMMUNITION AND EVIDENCE to do so,. But he won't.

38 posted on 02/01/2026 7:43:20 PM PST by Captainpaintball (America needs a Conservative DICTATOR if it hopes to survive. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: CaptainK
I don’t think he’s shutting it down to make it bigger and better. He’s shutting it down because the leftist actors and musicians are so Trump deranged they won’t perform there. Cancellation after cancellation. It’s just a face saving excuse.

I KNOW THIS!!! An EVEN BETTER REASON TO KILL IT!!! What a TROPHY!!! He's just so god damned stupid. He is a stupid foolish weak man. I'm so disappointed, and sooooo sick of him.

39 posted on 02/01/2026 7:45:15 PM PST by Captainpaintball (America needs a Conservative DICTATOR if it hopes to survive. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Captainpaintball

I don’t care about what happens to the Kennedy Center one way or the other. OTOH I do like the fact that the lefties in DC have one less option for a night out on the town for the next two years.


40 posted on 02/01/2026 7:52:32 PM PST by CaptainK ("No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up” )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson