Trump to close Kennedy Center for two-year reconstruction

President Trump announced Sunday that he would shut down the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington for two years, saying the temporary closure would begin on July 4. Mr. Trump called the building "a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center" and said the work would remake it into "the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind." He said funding had been found but did not disclose a total cost or the source of the money, and offered only that the project would involve "Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding." The announcement followed a wave of cancellations and boycotts: Philip Glass said he was withdrawing Symphony No.

15, which had been commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra for a June performance; the soprano Renée Fleming canceled a performance; the Washington National Opera cut ties to the center; and the National Symphony Orchestra has been playing to empty seats, with attendance down 50 percent from last year.

From his first weeks in office, Mr. Trump set out to remake the center, attaching his name to the building, installing loyalists including Richard Grenell, and calling for programming changes to reflect what he said were broader American tastes — "more ‘Les Miz’ and less ‘Hamilton,’" the article says.

The Kennedy Center had undergone a major renovation and expansion in 2019 under Deborah Rutter that cost $250 million; Ms. Rutter left shortly after Mr. Trump took office. Mr.

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