by Ben Whedon
The board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday voted to close for renovations after a federal judge ruled it could not add President Donald Trump’s name to the facility to secure his personal financial support.
The vote marked the third time the board voted to close the venue, NBC News reported. After Trump returned to the White House, he replaced the members of the board and overhauled its performance list.
The board previously voted to name the opera house after first lady Melania Trump and later added the president’s name to the venue, prompting legal action.
Earlier on Tuesday, a federal judge ruled there was no way to add Trump’s name without approval Congress. The board had argued that securing Trump’s personal support was the only way to stave off financial collapse as the facility struggled to maintain itself.
A partial ceiling collapse made headlines earlier this year and renewed Trump’s efforts.
On Tuesday, the president said on Truth Social the Kennedy Center’s closing “will take place immediately.”
“The Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board’s approved name. If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place. The attorneys from the DOJ will ask for an expedited appeal. In the meantime, 17 Million Dollars, raised by President Trump, has been put into The Kennedy Center account to keep it afloat,” he added.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Kennedy Center” by Wally Gobetz. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
