Kennedy Center to Undergo Two-Year Renovation Starting This July

Tue Feb 03 2026 14:20:12 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The renowned Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., will close its doors for two years beginning July 4, as announced by President Trump. The renovation aims to revitalize the arts venue, which has faced criticism following its controversial renaming.

Beginning July 4, the Kennedy Center will shut down for two years of renovations, as revealed by President Trump. This major overhaul comes after artists canceled performances in response to the center’s recent rebranding and contentious changes initiated by the President himself. Trump believes these renovations will transform the center into a premier performing arts facility and has already arranged funding for the project.

The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. will be closed for a two-year renovation beginning in July, US President Donald Trump has announced.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday that the center would close on 4 July this year 'in honour of the 250th Anniversary of our Country'.

The move follows several artists canceling performances at the storied institution after it was recently renamed as the Trump Kennedy Center.

Shortly after taking office, the president fired several board members at the center and replaced them with allies, who then voted to make Trump chairman of the board.

The new board renamed the institution the Donald J Trump and the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in December. New signage appeared on the building's exterior the following day.

Several musical acts, including Wicked composer Steven Schwartz and a group called Doug Varone and the Dancers, canceled performances at the center in the following weeks because of the name change.

On Thursday, the venue hosted a premiere screening of a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.

The US president stated there would be a 'scheduled grand reopening' of the facility and that the renovations had already been financed.

'I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for construction, revitalisation, and complete rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest performing arts facility of its kind, anywhere in the world,' he wrote.

Trump criticized the physical state of the center and had worked with the US Congress to allocate more than $250 million to rebuild it, one of many renovation projects he has taken on in his second term.

Some US lawmakers and legal scholars argue that, due to the center's name being established in a 1964 law, Congress must approve any name changes.

Last December, Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty filed a lawsuit to remove Trump's name for that reason.

Members of the Kennedy family have also expressed their disapproval of the change, emphasizing that the center was named in memory of President John F. Kennedy shortly after his assassination.

Joe Kennedy III, a former US House of Representatives member and grandnephew of the late president, remarked that the venue is 'a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law.'

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