‘Fool me once…’ Lawyers argue Kennedy Center should not meet same fate as the East Wing : NPR

A general view shows the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 10, 2026. Two lawsuits call for stopping the Center’s closure for renovations. Rep. Joyce Beatty, ex officio, is also calling for President Trump’s name to be removed from the Center, a law that has not been approved by Congress.
Since the name change, artists have canceled performances and ticket sales have declined.

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

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MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

This week, attorneys presented their arguments at hearings in two separate lawsuits against President Trump and the Kennedy Center board.

Representative Joyce Beatty, ex officio administrator of the Center, is pursue to remove President Trump’s name from the Center and halt its closure for renovation.

In a related context triala coalition of cultural preservation and architectural groups, including the American Institute of Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is also suing to halt the closure until the Center submits renovation plans to Congress for approval.

Less than two months into his second term, Trump fired the leadership of the Kennedy Center and ousted board members appointed by Biden. He replaced them with loyalists who then voted to make him chairman of the board. Trustees also voted to add Trump’s name to what is, by law, a living memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy. There have been a number of additional layoffs and departures since then.

Both hearings were presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, DC.

Questions about the ‘scope’ of Trump’s plans for the Kennedy Center

As part of Trump’s big, beautiful bill, Congress approved $257 million for “major repairs, restoration, backlog maintenance and security structures” at the Kennedy Center.

On Wednesday, Matt Floca, the Center’s executive director and chief operating officer, testified that he was “stunned” by the state of the building when he joined in 2024 as vice president of facilities. He cited extensive water damage, outdated electrical systems and degraded concrete among the reported maintenance issues. He said infrastructure issues were security concerns and he recommended closing the Center while renovations were underway. He also noted that the Center was on a timetable as the $257 million must be spent by 2029.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs in both cases said they were not disputing the need for the repairs but rather that a comprehensive plan had not been submitted to Congress for approval. Floca said such a plan is currently in the works. The plaintiffs’ attorneys also noted that the Kennedy Center remained open during the earlier construction.

Attorney Abbe Lowell raised the issue of trust, highlighting Trump’s claim that his ballroom design for the White House would not “interfere” with the building and then demolish the East Wing without Congressional approval.

Lowell, defending preservation and architecture groups, asked Floca if he knew the expression “Fool me once, shame on you.” Fool me twice, shame on me? Floca said he was and that there were “no active plans” to demolish the building.

Lowell asked him if he was speaking for himself or for Trump. Floca said it for himself, but acknowledged that Trump was involved in every aspect of the renovations and restoration.

What has already been changed?

The plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that there is a big difference between Floca’s and Trump’s descriptions of the changes that will take place during the shutdown.

Trump has referred to construction that will transform the Center into a “spectacular new entertainment complex” and a “new and beautiful landmark for many generations to come”, while Floca said this was repair work and the exterior of the Center would not be altered.

But lawyers pointed to changes that have already altered the building, such as adding Trump’s name to the facade, painting gold columns white and cutting down weeping willows in the plaza overlooking the Potomac River.

The government argued that Trump’s name on the building was an ‘acknowledgement’

Rep. Joyce Beatty’s lawsuit calls for Trump’s name to be removed from the Kennedy Center, an action she says goes against an amendment to his foundation law which states: “After December 2, 1983, no additional memorials or plaques of a commemorative nature shall be designated or installed in public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. »

Attorney Norm Eisen argued that adding Trump’s name to the building “tramples” the reason the Center was created. based. Government lawyer Brantley Mayers said the name was added not as a “memorial” but in “recognition” of Trump. Eisen called the claim “brazen and false.”