CNN is reporting that the real reason President Donald Trump announced the two-year renovation project for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is more about upcoming shows than about the project itself.
Host Dana Bash announced on her show Monday that there wouldn't be much programming to announce for Trump's newly renamed theater.
Several actors, singers, bands, composers, comedians and other performers are withdrawing from show commitments because they don't support Trump. After Trump announced that the center would be closing, he was ridiculed on social media.
"The Kennedy Center does not have a 2026 2027 season," a source told Bash. "There would not have been any programming to announce."
The move comes after Trump made himself the chairman of the Kennedy Center board, fired several others on the board and replaced them with loyalists. Trump then ordered new letters to change the name to the Trump-Kennedy Center and the board voted to affirm the name change.
Democrats note that because Congress established the xenter by law, the name cannot be changed unless it is also by law.
White House Associated Press reporter Michelle Price said closing the center is an interesting move because most of the renovations Trump wanted were not expected to require closing the entire building. Trump even boasted on Truth Social that he could have done all of his renovations without disruption, such as updating the upholstery and redoing the carpet.
"But we got to the point where the list of cancellations was longer than the list of people" performing, she noted.
"And it seems that something has changed in the last few days that he is pushing for this change now to close it for two years," said Price.
Last week, Trump's head of the Kennedy Center quit after just two weeks on the job.
The Kennedy Center audience is typically made up of people who live in the tri-state area of Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Those cities have all rejected Trumpism both in elections and in protests.
