George Conway issues dire warning about Trump’s Kennedy Center endgame

The battle for the Kennedy Center continues, and George Conway fears he knows where this is headed.

After a court issued a definitive ruling that the memorial for former President John F. Kennedy could not feature President Donald Trump's name, the president's board "ruled" that it would officially close the building, citing "safety" concerns. And now Conway is sounding the alarm.

"It's pretty obvious where this is headed," Conway wrote on social media. "He's saying renovations are needed because the facility is unsafe. But the money for renovations isn't available unless his name goes on the building. Ergo, if his name doesn't go on the building and, as a result, it's not renovated, then it must be demolished for public-safety reasons."

It's a very real fear after Americans watched as Trump destroyed the East Wing of the White House.

Lawyer and Trump biographer Seth Abramson called the battle an extortion plot.

"Let’s be clear: this was a mafia-like MAGA hit on a congressionally controlled building honoring a slain Democratic [president]. The Kennedy Center was bureaucratically assassinated. The only chance it had to survive was to become Trump’s — and courts rightly rejected that extortion," he said on X.

Former War College professor Tom Nichols called it a downright "shakedown."

But the Washingtonian tried to calm fears, writing that the destruction of the East Wing made it clear to folks that they must be more prepared. Sylvie McNamara explained that this has been part of the plan from the start. "The government has been laying groundwork to walk away from the renovations for some time."

McNamara sought to answer whether Trump could truly bulldoze the Kennedy Center. "Not legally, no — which is not to say they wouldn’t tear it down anyway. But so far, demolition of the Kennedy Center appears to be more of a rhetorical cudgel than an actual plan. The judge, for instance, has not engaged with it as a serious threat."

The East Wing is the clear example, she agreed. However, Georgetown University Law School Professor David Super explained, "The administration tore it down before anyone could sue. By contrast, multiple lawsuits have already been filed to protect the Kennedy Center from various harms."

So, if Trump brought in the cranes and wrecking balls, "litigants could immediately get a restraining order from the court without having to prove that they have standing."

“Given how this case has progressed, I’m guessing that the court would be ready to act very, very quickly,” Super told McNamara.

The next steps in the case will be about whether the Kennedy Center can legitimately file for bankruptcy. While there might be a court for people or corporations, there isn't one for the federal government, particularly when Congress has already allocated funding to make repairs and continue supporting it.

What Congress did that was unique in their "One Big Beautiful Bill" was to allocate funding and then make it optional to spend.

"With programs like Medicaid and Head Start, for example, the government is legally required to fund them (though there’s been some difficulty lately surrounding both). But money for federal disaster relief is not required to be spent if there’s no disaster to address," the report explained.

Super said that the Kennedy Center’s founding statute doesn't mandate money be spent on basic projects like maintenance. Congress can change that, but under GOP control, the leadership isn't likely to allow it.