Trump: Kennedy Center won’t be renovated if courts deny board’s naming plan

President Trump said Tuesday that the Kennedy Center will not be renovated if courts shoot down the naming plan chosen by the center’s board.

“The Board of The Kennedy Center today agreed, almost unanimously, to close the Building for Safety reasons, and so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction,” the president said in a post on his Truth Social platform Tuesday afternoon. “The closing will take place immediately, however, 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 president added.

On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked an effort by the Kennedy Center to inscribe Trump’s name on the building, as well as rename the campus after the president.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center board, handpicked by the president, could not go ahead with plans without approval from Congress and found that a vote on the renaming last month probably violated his prior injunction.

“The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted,” Cooper, an Obama appointee, said in his opinion.

The board voted also voted Tuesday to immediately close the institution’s main building for renovations, a source familiar with the situation told The Hill. The board has asserted that only the president can raise enough money to save the Kennedy Center.

The board’s vote followed officials signaling the performing arts center was dealing with “certain fiscal collapse within weeks.” A draft resolution labeled the Kennedy Center as close to bankruptcy.