Kennedy Family Objects as Board Votes to Close Kennedy Center in Name Fight

Jack Schlossberg and other members of the Kennedy family spoke out this week after the Kennedy Center board voted to close the Washington arts center named for former President John F. Kennedy.

The vote on Tuesday, Sept. 15, came shortly after a federal judge blocked an effort to add President Donald Trump’s name to the building, according to Town & Country. The board is led by appointees chosen by Trump. The name did not go up.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled the center cannot be renamed without an act of Congress. Only Congress can authorize that kind of change to a national memorial. The decision keeps the original name in place while the legal fight continues.

Cooper also ordered the board to give at least 30 days’ written notice before making physical changes to the main building, including demolition. No demolition can happen without that written warning. As of Friday, Sept. 18, no demolition had been reported.

Trump said on Truth Social, his social media platform, that the closing will take place immediately. He said renovation cannot begin until the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court in Washington, rules on the name approved by the board. In other words, the board’s chosen name is on hold until the higher court weighs in.

Speaking to reporters in North Carolina, Trump said the center is “going to close” unless his administration receives “recognition.” He said it “will end up being ripped down” without that recognition. He was also photographed aboard Air Force One looking at a poster that read “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.”

Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, called the shutdown plan a “tragedy” on CNN. She described it as “hostage taking by the president.”

Schlossberg is a grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, as noted by The Hill. He joined other family members in criticizing the closure plan. Earlier this year, he wrote during a previous round of the renovation dispute that Trump could take the center for himself.

For audiences who have never visited, the Kennedy Center sits on the Potomac River in Washington and serves as a national stage for theater, music and dance. It is both a working venue and a memorial to Kennedy. The building has not come down.

For fans, this means the argument is about more than a name on a facade. It is about whether the doors stay open and who gets to decide what happens inside.