BS BULLETIN:
- Justice Department lawyers say the Kennedy Center is “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe” and headed toward a potentially terminal decline.
- The administration says blocking Trump’s renovation plan could eventually leave the iconic building with one option: tear it down.
- And DOJ already floated what might replace it — a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac.
WASHINGTON — Well, the fight over Donald Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center just got considerably bigger than a sign. Try the entire building.
Justice Department lawyers have now raised the extraordinary possibility that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could eventually have to be demolished if President Trump’s renovation effort is derailed. In a new court filing, DOJ paints a brutal picture of the famous Washington landmark, describing it as:
“Structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital.”
And then comes the sentence that changes this story. Without the Trump administration’s efforts, lawyers warned:
“The Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down.”
Taken down. As in: The Kennedy Center could be demolished.
The filing even raises the possibility of replacing the massive performing-arts complex with something entirely different — perhaps a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River. The administration acknowledged that such a replacement would fail to adequately honor President John F. Kennedy, but argued it would be simpler and cheaper to build, operate and maintain.
That’s a dramatic escalation in a Kennedy Center battle that has already produced enough plot twists for its own Broadway production. As The Daily BS previously reported, the Trump-aligned board recently voted to close the main building for approximately two years for a massive renovation while also finding a new way to put Trump’s name on the facade.
Instead of renaming the institution, the proposed inscription would credit it as:
“Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.”
The grounds would become “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.” Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who successfully challenged an earlier effort to rename the center, went back to court arguing the latest maneuver is another attempt to get around the judge’s ruling. Now DOJ is responding with what amounts to: You think the Trump inscription is the big problem? Take a look at the building.
The administration says the Kennedy Center is trapped in both a structural and financial “death spiral,” and argues Trump’s involvement is critical not only to rebuilding it, but to attracting the private donors necessary to keep the project alive.
DOJ warned that an order preventing the board from recognizing Trump could cause donors to flee and rehabilitation work to collapse. Without the renovation, lawyers say, the building’s condition will continue deteriorating until demolition becomes necessary.
That’s also what makes this more than another round of the Trump-name fight. We’ve covered that fight.
We’ve covered the board’s workaround to get Trump’s name back onto the building.
We’ve even covered Jim Acosta demanding somebody go to jail over it.
But demolishing the Kennedy Center? That’s new.
The Washington Post reports this is the first time Trump’s allies have explicitly raised demolition of the Kennedy Center itself. A center spokesperson stressed Tuesday that DOJ was describing a hypothetical outcome if desperately needed renovations are blocked — not announcing a decision to bring in the wrecking balls.
Nobody has approved demolition, but the possibility is now sitting in a federal court filing.
Beatty attorney Norm Eisen promptly seized on it, accusing the administration of threatening to “LEVEL” the Kennedy Center if Trump doesn’t get his way. And all of this is headed toward another courtroom showdown. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday over Beatty’s latest attempt to block Trump’s name from appearing on the building.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Just the News — Trump administration threatens to demolish Kennedy Center if 2-year closure isn’t allowed
- Associated Press — Kennedy Center risks financial ruin without Trump’s name, Justice Department argues
- CBS News — Trump administration warns Kennedy Center could be knocked down if renovations don’t move forward
- Washington Post — DOJ says Kennedy Center could be demolished if Trump’s plans are blocked
