---
title: "Trump administration threatens to demolish Kennedy Center over reconstruction dispute"
description: "In a court document, the Trump administration threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center if a court does not allow it to be closed for two years for reconstruction. Justice Department attorneys called the building \"derelict.\""
date: 2026-08-26T01:28:01.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/trump-administration-threatens-demolish-kennedy-center
tags: [kennedy-center, donald-trump, us-justice-department, court-ruling, washington]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Trump administration threatens to demolish Kennedy Center over reconstruction dispute

![Donald Trump at a microphone against the US flag — Trump administration threatens to demolish the Kennedy Center](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/26/tramp-ugrozhayet-snesti-kennedi-tsentr/tramp-ugrozhayet-snesti-kennedi-tsentr-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- In a court document, the Trump administration threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center if a court does not allow it to be closed for two years for reconstruction.
- Justice Department attorney Brantley T. Myers called the building "derelict" and stated that without repairs it will have to be demolished.
- The lawsuit was filed by Democratic congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who sits on the center's board; she considers the addition of Trump's name without Congress's authorization illegal.
- Earlier, a court ordered Trump's name removed from the facade, but the letters were merely covered with canvas, and the center's board voted for a separate inscription bearing his name.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center in Washington if a court does not allow the building to be closed for two years for a major reconstruction. According to RBC-Ukraine, citing The Hill, this is stated in a court document submitted by administration representatives on Monday. The threat was made in the context of ongoing litigation, at the center of which is a dispute over the legality of placing the president's name on the building's facade and over plans to rebuild it.

### Justice Department's position: a "derelict structure"

In the submitted documents, Justice Department attorney Brantley T. Myers repeatedly characterized the Kennedy Center as a "derelict structure" in urgent need of reconstruction under the Trump administration. In his view, without repairs the building "will continue to deteriorate, turning into a dangerous, abandoned structure that will have to be demolished." After that, Myers noted, the question will arise of what to build on the freed-up site; one of the options discussed for many years, he said, is an amphitheater with a view of the Potomac River.

Myers also stated that if the president is not given permission to renovate the center, it could lead to a drain of donors, a reduction in financial contributions, and a halt to the reconstruction. "There simply will be neither the necessary expertise nor the funding to restore and rebuild this dilapidated structure. The Trump administration is ready to act, but without it the Kennedy Center cannot be saved," the Justice Department attorney emphasized.

### Beatty's lawsuit and the dispute over Trump's name

The Justice Department's statements came in the context of the court case brought by Joyce Beatty, a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio who, by virtue of her position, sits on the Kennedy Center's board. Beatty argues that adding Trump's name to the building's title without direct authorization from Congress is illegal, since the president had previously insisted on placing his name next to the "Kennedy Center" inscription. Moreover, the Democrat believes that the plans for a large-scale rebuild of the center and its closure for two years were not properly presented to the board.

Recall that earlier this year a court ruled that Trump's name cannot legally be added to the building's title and ordered the corresponding inscriptions to be removed. However, as noted, the letters were not taken down from the facade — they were simply covered with canvas. The Kennedy Center's board, the majority of whose members were appointed by Trump, voted to place a separate inscription under the center's name: "Restored and reconstructed by President Donald J. Trump."

### Contradictory data

The statements of the parties contain significant discrepancies that must be honestly reflected. Through the Justice Department, the administration describes the Kennedy Center as a "derelict" and "dilapidated" structure that, without reconstruction, will have to be demolished, and presents the two-year closure as the only way to save the building. Congresswoman Beatty, by contrast, insists that the rebuild and closure plans were not properly presented to the center's board, and that adding the president's name without Congress's sanction is illegal. A separate inconsistency concerns the signage: the court ordered Trump's name removed from the facade, but, according to available data, the letters were not taken down but merely covered with canvas, while the center's board voted for a separate inscription bearing the president's name. Thus, the actual condition of the building and the status of its signage remain a matter of dispute between the parties, and the threat of demolition is a conditional argument in the court case rather than a confirmed decision to demolish.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Trump threatens to demolish the Kennedy Center, whose building had his name removed](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/trampa-pogrozhuyut-znesti-kennedi-tsentr-1787707526.html) - Подтверждает угрозу администрации снести Кеннеди-центр и контекст удаления имени Трампа с здания.
- [Trump's attorneys threaten to demolish the Kennedy Center](https://korrespondent.net/world/4906145-yurysty-trampa-uhrozhauit-snesty-kennedy-tsentr) - Подтверждает, что угроза сноса исходит от юристов администрации в рамках судебного спора.
- [Federal judge ordered Trump's name removed from the facade of the Kennedy Center in Washington](https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/c5y7l3qlr22o) - Контекст: судебное решение об удалении имени Трампа с фасада, на которое ссылается базовый текст.
- [Trump criticized the court's decision to remove his name from the Kennedy Center signage](https://rt.rbc.ru/politics/30/05/2026/6a1a0dbb9a7947713bc61aee) - Контекст: реакция президента на судебное решение об удалении имени с вывески (дата источника 30.05.2026).

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Why did the Trump administration threaten to demolish the Kennedy Center?
**A:** According to Justice Department attorney Brantley T. Myers, if a court does not allow the center to be closed for two years for reconstruction, the building, in his assessment, will continue to deteriorate and will ultimately have to be demolished. This statement was made in a court document as an argument in favor of granting permission to rebuild.

### Q: Who filed the lawsuit and what is it about?
**A:** The lawsuit was filed by Joyce Beatty, a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio who sits on the Kennedy Center's board. She argues that adding Trump's name to the building's title without direct authorization from Congress is illegal, and that the reconstruction and two-year closure plans were not properly presented to the board.

### Q: What happened to Trump's name on the center's facade?
**A:** Earlier this year, a court ordered Trump's name removed from the building's title. According to available data, the letters were not taken down from the facade but covered with canvas. Meanwhile, the center's board, the majority of whose members were appointed by Trump, voted for a separate inscription: "Restored and reconstructed by President Donald J. Trump."