By JONATHAN J. COOPER
President Donald Trump on Friday defended his push to put his name on the Kennedy Center, saying he deserves to be recognized for trying to save Washington’s premier performing arts venue after his takeover was blamed for triggering its financial distress.
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Trump did not directly respond when a reporter asked whether he planned to demolish the theater, as he’s threatened to do, but said “the place is a dump” and he would “do a better job building it than anybody else.”
He said the Kennedy Center would require an ongoing subsidy to stay open and suggested it would be his burden to raise money to fill that gap.
“Why should I do everything and then for the rest of my life, have to go out and raise money?” Trump said.
He said only he could have secured the $257 million that Congress has approved for Kennedy Center repairs.
“I think the Trump administration should be recognized as having saved the Kennedy Center because nobody else could do it,” he added, repeating a comment he made days earlier while campaigning in North Carolina.
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President Donald Trump speaks as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, listen during an event about healthcare in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday Sept. 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Security patrols the Kennedy Center, which has been fenced off and closed to the public, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A sign directs people away from the Kennedy Center, which has been fenced off and closed to the public, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The Kennedy Center board, which is aligned with the president, voted Tuesday to close the center indefinitely for repairs hours after a judge blocked their plans to return Trump’s name to the building. On Thursday, the judge ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it.
Trump on Friday called U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper “a very hostile judge.”
He spoke in the Oval Office during a health care event as his Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., looked on. The venue was designated by Congress as a memorial for the secretary’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
“I should be very careful because Bobby is standing right behind me,” Trump said. “And I cherish that, too. I actually like the name of Kennedy and Trump, Trump and Kennedy, because it showed bipartisanship. It showed a Republican Party and a Democrat party working together.”
A wave of artists have canceled their Kennedy Center appearances in that past year after the Trump-loyal board added his name to the building’s facade, renaming it The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
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Cooper ruled that Trump’s name was illegally added and ordered it removed.