President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the Kennedy Center will close for major renovations for “approximately” two years starting on July 4.
Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that following a yearlong “review” of the Kennedy Center, he has now determined that “if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding,” the performing arts center “can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World.” He added that this temporary closure “will produce a much faster and higher quality result.”
“Based on these findings, and totally subject to Board approval, I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time, with a scheduled Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a Facility before,” the president wrote in the social media post.
“Financing is completed, and fully in place!,” Trump continued. “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.”
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell claimed in an X post on Sunday night that he is “grateful” for Trump’s “visionary leadership.” Grenell added he is “also grateful to Congress for appropriating an historic $257M to finally address decades of deferred maintenance and repairs” at the performing arts center.
“Our goal has always been to not only save and permanently preserve the Center, but to make it the finest Arts Institution in the world,” Grenell added.
In December 2025, Trump notably became the first U.S. president to host the Kennedy Center Honors, NBC News reported.
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