The descendants of former President John F. Kennedy are denouncing President Donald Trump’s order to shutter the Kennedy Center and calling out his reasons for doing so.
On Sunday, Trump abruptly announced on Truth Social that beginning on July 4, the performing arts center in Washington, DC, which he recently renamed after himself, would shut down for two years for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.”
Trump said the decision was based on input from a group of “many Highly Respected experts,” who said the center was “tired, broken, and dilapidated” and needed to be shut down for a facelift.
However, the family of the center’s namesake said it has more to do with the recent pullout of talent in protest after it became the “Trump-Kennedy Center” last year and the president began asserting control over its programming, which included the world premiere of a hagiographic documentary about his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, this weekend.
In a post on social media, JFK’s niece, Maria Shriver, gave what she said was a “translation” of Trump’s comments about the center’s sudden closure.
She suggested the president meant to say: “It has been brought to my attention that due to the name change (but nobody’s telling me it’s due to the name change), but it’s been brought to my attention that entertainers are canceling left and right, and I have determined that since the name change no one wants to perform there any longer.”
Speaking as Trump, she continued: “I’ve determined that due to this change in schedule, it’s best for me to close this center down and rebuild a new center that will bear my name, which will surely get everybody to stop talking about the fact that everybody’s canceling... right?”
Among those who have pulled out of planned performances at the center are the Washington National Opera, Lincoln composer Philip Glass, the Broadway show Hamilton, the actress and producer Issa Rae, and several others—many of whom directly cited Trump’s takeover as their reason.
Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, who is running for Congress as a Democrat in New York, was even more direct in his condemnation.
“Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the building. He can try to kill JFK,” he wrote. “But JFK is kept alive by us now rising up to remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice, and restore the freedoms generations fought for.”