President Donald Trump wants to transfer all operations of the “failing” John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to Congress after a federal judge ordered his name to be removed from the iconic venue.
“Therefore, based on the fact that the Radical Left Democrats care more about opposing your favorite President, ME, than saving a dying Performing Arts Center, almost all of which lose large amounts of money throughout the Country, we are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on May 29.
Trump said the building needed to be closed for renovation because it had rotting beams and parking areas that were about to collapse.
“I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight,” Trump wrote.
“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND.’”
Trump said the Department of Commerce will arrange a full transfer of operations, maintenance, and management to Congress.
The Epoch Times contacted the White House for additional information.
Trump appointed himself to the chairman of the venue’s Board of Trustees after he entered his second term as president in early 2025.
The rebrand came with backlash from some in the performing arts community, as high-profit shows like Hamilton pulled out of plans to tour there.
Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas said it stood in solidarity with the Dramatists Guild and Actors’ Equity Association members who cut ties with the Kennedy Center after Trump’s new board took over.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Actors’ Equity Association and Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas for comment on the latest development.
Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.
