Trump refuses to rule out demolishing Kennedy Center

Washington: US President Donald Trump did not specify if he would consider tearing down the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a famous venue located on the Potomac River. During a speech from the Oval Office, Trump insisted that the center should bear his name in return for his fundraising efforts to refurbish the site.

He inaccurately asserted the center faced financial difficulties necessitating drastic measures, despite the facility generating profits in seven of the last nine years, as per its tax returns. "I think the Trump administration should be credited with saving the Kennedy Center because nobody else remembers," Trump stated. The Kennedy Center's board, which claims the building needs a $257 million renovation, recently decided to shut down the location for a span of two years for the project.

US District Judge Christopher Cooper subsequently demanded an explanation from the Trump administration on whether the closure contravenes a court order restricting its power to close down. Cooper also requested the administration to give a 30-day notice before taking any demolition steps. "President Trump is holding the Kennedy Center hostage," Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, attorneys representing US Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and an ex-officio board member of the center who is leading the lawsuit against the administration over its plans, said.

The center, chaired by Trump and controlled by his appointees, had previously attempted to rename the venue the "Trump-Kennedy Center" and even placed his name on the building. Following Cooper's ruling that only Congress can rename the center, the board installed a tarp over the front of the building, which remains there as the legal dispute continues.

Trump told reporters on Friday that adding his name to the building would demonstrate "bipartisanship," as he is a Republican and Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, was a Democrat. He referred to Cooper as "hostile" and described the center, which comprises a concert hall, opera house, theater, and 12 other performance and meeting spaces, as a "dump."