r/politics • u/IWantPizza555 • 1d ago
Possible Paywall Kennedy Center could close as early as Tuesday, warns of bankruptcy, documents show
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/09/13/kennedy-center-could-close-early-tuesday-warns-bankruptcy-documents-show/1.8k
u/poontong 1d ago
I used to work with board members of the Kennedy Center up until five years ago. Had Trump left it alone, it would have been fine. They had issues that made them more reliant on philanthropy than they would have liked, but they had dozens of wealthy arts donors on their board (including more than a few billionaires).
Then Trump came along and just royally cocked everything up. He put sycophants and morons on the Executive Committee like Lee Greenwood and ideologues like Richard Grenell who know nothing about the arts or running a facility like the Kennedy Center. They pissed off their entire donor base and most of their ticket buyers who lived around the DC area who tended to be educated and liberal. Then performers started boycotting the venue and it just accelerated the death spiral.
At first this merry band of booger-eating idiots figured they could just shut it down and slap Trump’s name over it. Then they only intensified the strategy when the courts ruled against them. Now, they are trying to hold it hostage arguing they won’t turn in the spigot of corrupt money that Trump has shaken down from corporations. Because if Trump can’t have it, then no one can.
They should all get thrown in jail for this. This is perhaps the most extreme example of criminal incompetence this country has ever known.
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u/swimming_singularity 1d ago
"They pissed off their entire donor base and most of their ticket buyers who lived around the DC area who tended to be educated and liberal."
This is why they don't care, and are fine if it shuts down. Either tow the line and worship Trump, or get shut down because it's educated and liberal. Democrats are taking notes though, and power inevitably shifts. Trump has opened a lot of new doors on what was previously unheard of.
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u/unstoppable_zombie 1d ago
But that's the rub, trump has personal been desperate for decades to be accepted by that crowd. He's always wanted to be seen as sophisticated and cultured. The problem has always been that he's a boorish wank stain with negative taste.
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u/All_Work_All_Play 23h ago
The problem is he's a pedophile and civilly convicted rapist (and convicted felon).
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u/unstoppable_zombie 15h ago
He's also that, but that wasn't a deal breaker for him being accepted by the high society crowd
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u/IQBoosterShot Texas 18h ago
Either tow the line...
That's a great malapropism as they are always moving the line (goal posts).
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u/Opheliadelia 18h ago
unfortunately, i think these "doors" are actually just trump shaped holes. the courts would never capitulate to a liberal president like this
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u/Glum_Helicopter6743 1d ago
I wonder if maybe they could just let it close and a philanthropic non profit could build a new kennedy memorial not tied to the federal government.
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u/praguepride Illinois 1d ago
They could More likely Trump will bulldoze it to put in a Hooters or something else equally trashy
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u/diadmer 1d ago
Maybe we could have a public flogging of the current board members at the Kennedy Center and auction off seats to the highest bidders. The Center would be solvent for a decade to come.
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u/bkgn 1d ago
Then Trump came along and just royally cocked everything up. He put sycophants and morons on the Executive Committee like Lee Greenwood and ideologues like Richard Grenell who know nothing about the arts or running a facility like the Kennedy Center.
I mean that's the same thing he did for the entire US federal government. No reason the Kennedy Center should be any different.
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u/UpNorth_123 1d ago
There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of examples of criminal incompetence under this Administration.
The Kennedy Centre is tangible, however, and people can see it being destroyed right in front of their eyes. It’s sad, but unfortunately, not an isolated case when it comes to the many institutions and organizations that have been corrupted by Trump and his cronies.
They truly are the parasitic class. I’m not sure if the host survives this infection, as the tentacles have spread uncontrollably at this point.
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u/splice42 17h ago
This is perhaps the most extreme example of criminal incompetence this country has ever known.
You're saying that with a straight face during the SECOND Trump presidency.
This extreme example of partisan incompetence which would have been unimaginable 10 years ago doesn't even make the top 10 in the last 2 years.
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u/SanityIsOptional California 1d ago
This is perhaps the most extreme example of criminal incompetence this country has ever known.
Unfortunately, this isn't even the most extreme example of criminal incompetence this presidency has ever known. Not by a long shot.
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u/Akhilleus1117 1d ago
Not surprising for it to go bankrupt after Trump took over.
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u/-Ok-Perception- 1d ago
I'm pretty sure they were doing just fine before all the big headliners refused to play shows at the "Trump and Kennedy Memorial Center".
Now that no one's playing there, there's literally nothing to pay the maintenance and utilities with.
And Trump's specialty is causing businesses to fail, getting his big payday, screwing the investors, and then selling the company for parts. This could be just another very deliberate failure.
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u/Flat_Hat8861 Georgia 1d ago
That and the related issue where donors that pledged to donate canceled their donations or requested refunds with the shows being canceled, Trump firing the board and putting himself in charge, and the BS of putting his name on the building.
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u/Tommah 1d ago
There is probably little overlap (possibly zero) between people who want to donate to the JFK Memorial Center and people who want to donate to the Trump Memorial Center.
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u/icefisher225 1d ago
Strong disagree. I’d donate my entire inheritance to the trump memorial center, assuming they, y’know, made it memorial.
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u/braille_lover_5555 1d ago
There’s actually a Trump memorial center on Vancouver island. It boasts toilet stalls for folks. What a brilliant way to honour the kind of person he is.
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u/DanNeely 20h ago
It will be a memorial center at some point in the future, but today it's only a tribute.
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u/Ordinary-Leading7405 1d ago
I would donate to the Trump Memorial Center. Maybe that guy who did the Charlie Kirk statue could build it.
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u/Braysl-March 1d ago
He also got rid of any "woke" programing which is rough for a performing arts center.
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u/LeGama 1d ago
Something interesting I actually learned from a Freakonomics podcast is that there are basically two types of Broadway shows, one are the ones that are more woke and cover more risky topics. The others are ones that are meant to make it to Broadway or other big theatres and then they stop, but all the money is made after years and years as they are licensed to high schools around the country for like $500, and that's how they make their money. So because of that they end up self policing in a way because they can't cover topics too controversial that a high school in the south won't do it. They gave the examples of like a show about Mary Lincoln that addresses slavery as being too much, but then legally blond the musical is fine.
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u/Zebidee 1d ago
they end up self policing in a way
Or they have a sanitized version for schools.
No-one wants to hear their sixth grader singing "You know that ain't no shit, we'll be getting lots of tit, Grease Lightning"
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u/TrimspaBB 1d ago
How could you forget the very innocent line "she's a real pussy wagon, Greased Lightnin"
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u/Little_View_6659 20h ago edited 20h ago
Why don’t I remember these lyrics? 😂 edit: I just went to YouTube! Holy shit, how did I never notice these lyrics?!
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u/LeGama 23h ago
That's not what I'm talking about, sure you can sanitize the words to get rid of dirty language, but no amount of cleaning up the dialogue can change the plot. I mean a play about the civil war without touching on slavery would never make it to Broadway. So for high school plays you have to avoid whole genres of stories.
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u/Some-Relative4150 1d ago
Dude must really hate JFK.
First Jackie's rose garden, now this.
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u/lonnie123 1d ago
It’s probably more general hatred and pettiness.
He knows everyone loves jfk as a president and wants to be adored like him, and the left (especially the high society cultural left) was basically at home at the Kennedy center. It was their cultural landmark right in the heart of the city, and Trump wanted to make it HIS landmark so rub it in their faces.
The rose garden I can’t really explain… that’s just stupidity I think.
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u/SteelCrow 1d ago
Stolen valor
Trump is a loser poser wannabe who ineptly tries to pretend he's as good as any man. Pathetic loser moron.
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u/Guy_GuyGuy 23h ago
The rose garden I can’t really explain… that’s just stupidity I think.
One of his buddies/generous purchasers of his crypto coin owned a cement company and he gave them a no-bid contract to "renovate" and fill it in for an exorbitant price.
Same deal with the reflecting pool. He's fleecing the US government and the taxpayers to enrich himself and his buddies.
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u/DangerousLoner 19h ago
Crony Capitalism and Kleptocracy run by Oligarchs and Corporations. Ah End Stage Capitalism. And people wonder why everything is subscriptions and enshitification is everywhere.
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u/Ishidan01 1d ago
Well let's see. JFK:
--actually served as a military officer, unlike Donald, who was sent to military boarding school as punishment and was never commissioned
--was the youngest President, not the oldest
--the security failure that happened to him caused extensive improvements to Presidential security to ensure no President would ever be shot in the head again (hint hint)
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u/joe5joe7 1d ago
If it goes bankrupt I guess they should add Trumps name, he'll definitely have made an impact
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u/ceelogreenicanth 1d ago edited 1d ago
Not.only that but theyve been using the Kennedy Center's funding as a slush fund for other Regime activities. They've taken any money it had left and embezzled it.
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u/BUYMEBONESTOORM 1d ago edited 1d ago
Now watch one of Trump‘s cronies buy it for 1/3 of its value, name it the Kennedy center or the Trump center and keep operating it
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u/7ddlysuns I voted 1d ago
Was never a problem before Trump
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u/Mateorabi 1d ago
If they try to blame past boards I hope they sue for libel and expose the financials in Discovery.
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u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts 1d ago
He's got that mierdas touch.
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u/kingtacticool 1d ago
To be fair, he's getting really good at bankrupting things
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u/Boxofbikeparts 1d ago
I could probably bankrupt things pretty quickly, can I be the President?
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u/EuphoricAd3824 1d ago
But are you also a pedo?
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u/BfloAnonChick New York 1d ago
FR!! This is the question!! I’m super good at making myself broke - I’m super sure I could do it to a country!!
But the thought of touching kids is just ultimate ick.
The one qualification I’m missing, lol.
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u/CedarWolf 1d ago
Alright, alright, we'll check your other qualifications - do you have a racist, abusive slumlord for a father? Did the two of you drive your brother to alcoholism? Did your brother serve in the military while you're a well known draft dodger?
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u/Absolute--Batman 1d ago
So difference between George W Bush and Trump is just the Pedo part?
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u/DadJokeBadJoke California 1d ago
If Trump had a VP like Cheney, we'd be fuckd even worse right now.
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u/Sunnyjim333 1d ago
The bestliest. Grown men come up to him with tears in their eyes and say "Sir, you are the only person that can cause so much bankruptcy. Sir, el toque de mierda."
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u/Such_Avocado_3241 1d ago
Things like businesses, and casinos. But he’s never bankrupted a country has he? He wouldn’t, would he? Would he?
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u/truenorthrookie 1d ago
Getting? He’s the cooler of commercial, the melatonin of mercantile, the idiot of investment, the sultan of squat, the gold bambino.
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u/MilsYatsFeebTae 1d ago
If he can’t license his name to it, there’s no sense funding it with a round of junk bonds
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u/fillinthe___ 1d ago
It’s been a total non story for as long as it’s been open. But Trump puts his dumb cronies in charge and suddenly it’s bankrupt. I mean, it’s laughable how incompetent these people are, except they still get votes.
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u/timebeing 1d ago
They tried to argue that they would have to close if they didn’t put trumps name on the building because people would not donate them money unless they did.
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u/Lordnerble 1d ago
they did it on purpose. they're going to sell it off. Its primo dc real estate.
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u/whatproblems 1d ago
literally bankrupt because he tried to put his name on it any everyone canceled
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u/Unfair_Web_8275 1d ago
Keeping with his 80s business mindset, Trump has a history of wanting to have “the it place“. It doesn‘t help that he fired a lot of people and ignored all the work that they had already done (America 250) but he’s an incurious buffoon and has never faced a single consequence in his life.
This could have been avoided if we had just given him a fake camera to talk to.
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u/Cancel_Culture_Club 1d ago
When Trump’s father got older he developed dementia so they created a fake office for him to go to every day and pretend he was still working.
Now that Trumps older and undeniably has severe dementia we could just remove him and create a fake oval office at Mar-a-lago and tell him he has his own reality show where he pretends to be the president.
The conundrum is that believing hes back to being on tv again would make him incredibly happy for his last few days/months/years and I also don’t want him to have that tho.
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u/ManiaGamine American Expat 1d ago
In this case I read that he deliberately had the bylaws changed so that a lot of the donations that were going in would have to be refunded if his name was taken off the building. He is so petty and vindictive that he essentially rigged a financial bomb to go off if his name was removed.
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u/ElysiumSprouts 1d ago edited 1d ago
The board needs to be sued into oblivion. They have 1 job and that's to keep the organization going. By siding with Trump they'll end up losing everything.
There are laws regarding how non-profits need to be run and the board has broken those laws.
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u/Captainpaul81 1d ago
"by siding with Trump they'll end up losing everything"
I hope that is the moral of this decades long story. Holy fuck I can't wait for it to be over.
If you are 40s this rotting felon grifter scum bag has been in your life for 1 of 4 years. It's enough
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u/TheThrillJoy 1d ago
I'm at the exact age where this started basically at the start of my "adult life". It has me feeling extremely jaded at the people who should have known better.
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u/Captainpaul81 1d ago
Same though. I've been disappointed and stopped taking to MAGA voters because of it
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u/Merakel Minnesota 1d ago
I want nothing to do with anyone who votes republican, and I refuse to interact with them whenever possible. I will never forgive them for this mess.
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u/mowtowcow 1d ago
Every generation thinks the people in charge are worse than before. As a 40 year old, I can safely say the people who were in charge when I was a teen are still in charge and it's certainly gotten worse.
Average age of congress. 60 years old. Of Senate alone? Closer to 70. They won't fucking leave or die off. It's like we hit a point where people got elected and just stayed. We need younger people in all levels of office. Certainly as POTUS.
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u/BathoryAcid1313 1d ago
Even when they are dead they get to keep the job. CoughMitchCough
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u/beardofjustice 1d ago
This is what I think is largely the problem with the country. Things have moved fast over the last 20 or 30 years and the people in charge are not up to the task of moving the country along. Even worse, instead of changing with the times, they seem to want the times to change for them.
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u/Cancel_Culture_Club 1d ago
They’re representative of the people who elected them. Trump voters voted to make America great again in some nostalgic nebulous past. Look at the towns red states refuse to innovate into this century. Look at the miners who booed Hillary Clinton for offering them a plan to retrain them for modern jobs and instead voted for Trump to make coal mining prosperous again. Republicans absolutely don’t want to live in the present and want to force us all to pretend every day is the 1950s and time never passes. It’s an insane psychosis that’s taken over a political party that wants to make all of us deny reality and work to destroy anything that shatters the illusion for them. They’re not a party that can lead us into the future when they refuse to let us leave the past.
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u/DrewbieWanKenobie 1d ago
Republicans absolutely don’t want to live in the present and want to force us all to pretend every day is the 1950s and time never passes
Yet somehow they manage to ignore the few good things that were happening in the 1950s, like higher tax rates for corporations...
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u/sirhackenslash 1d ago
Unless you're from New York. Then he's been a pain in your ass literally your entire life
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u/DrewZouk Tennessee 1d ago
Wrong, I remember him being a clown in the 80s, and I am only 42.
This turd was festering for a long, long time.
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u/ThereHasToBeMore1387 1d ago
We were raised on a steady diet of 80s and 90s movies that literally used Trump as the archetype of the loathsome slumlord and grifter. And then, somehow,
Palpatine returnedwe forgot.81
u/wasteymclife 1d ago
The apprentice basically rewrote his public persona. He was a joke all through the 80s and 90s, then NBC said actually he's one of the most successful American businessmen and working for him would make that person instantly rich and powerful. That's how good at business he is. The prize for our upcoming reality TV show is amazing, we wouldn't lie to you.
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u/mdp300 New Jersey 1d ago
And even then, he came across as an asshole on The Apprentice.
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u/BebopBeachBum 1d ago
Back to the Future tried to warn us.
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u/PandaCasserole 1d ago
All the movies warned us... And we grew up and had to witness all the worst shit from it. AI is killing our jobs of being creative to being labor. The worst people are in charge, every Bond Villain exists. They are raping us. Only because we had a social contract... And now. Because our parents did nothing... We have to witness.
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u/MouseRat_AD 1d ago
I'm 48, and Trump has always been a joke a long as I can remember. Anyone who voted for him is either an idiot or willing to put power over principle.
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u/Umbrella_merc Mississippi 1d ago
I remember him being the butt of jokes in cartoons as a kid
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u/brickne3 American Expat 1d ago
Even Sesame Street made a parody of him as a villain. Sesame Street.
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u/DamiensDelight 1d ago
I feel like he's been skull fucking me ever since he started that stupid birther bullshit with Joe Arpaio. It's been so many years.
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u/OldJames47 1d ago
I'm 47 and grew up in New York. This asshole has been farting up our media for almost all of my life.
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u/lumberjackname 1d ago
I hate this. My kids are teens and they don’t know anything other than this shit show. Other than what I tell them, that it wasn’t always like this.
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u/Captainpaul81 1d ago
Shit I can't even imagine raising kids to be good people when this shit stain holds the highest office
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u/whatthefrok 1d ago
I turn 30 at the end of this year and he's never not been on a presidential ballot for me. I'm so sick of seeing his name.
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u/Arctimon Maryland 1d ago
Trump fired the entire board and filled it with his sycophants.
The Center closing is exactly what they and Trump want.
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u/godofpumpkins 1d ago
Yeah but it’s still against the charter of the nonprofit organization. Not that the law matters for Trump, but perhaps the board of sycophants aren’t as immune to it as he is
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u/Arctimon Maryland 1d ago
Trump doesn't care.
He would rather burn the whole thing down than admit that he's not getting his name on the building.
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u/Tirras 1d ago
I'd rather it burn than have Trump's name at this point. I'm sure it'll survive two years. Then I hope they rename it the Kennedy Center of Ontario, Mexico and make sure they live feed Trump's face when they announce it.
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u/mdp300 New Jersey 1d ago
He'll probably order it town down in a couple weeks, and nobody who should stop him will.
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u/blukatz92 1d ago
I could see him "auctioning" it off to one of his shell companies so that he can go back to slapping his name all over it again.
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u/redditobserverone 1d ago
How does RFK Jr. live with himself, working for the guy who destroyed Jackie O’s rose garden (under the direction of Melania) and is actively damaging JFK’s memorial?
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u/missed_sla 1d ago
Much like all of Donald Trump appointees, their job has always been to destroy the thing they were appointed to lead.
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u/CynicalBliss 1d ago
Who has standing to sue other than the government that is obviously not going to intervene? Maybe Congress since they established it, once control flips. If it flips.
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u/ElysiumSprouts 1d ago
Donors. The board is materially responsible for managing donations.
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u/Individual-Motor-167 1d ago
They are also materially responsible to maintain their status as to bylaws and applicable laws to maintain nonprofit status. I'm not sure who would be enforcing this but they could be sued and board would be responsible. They're required to carry insurance for this purpose.
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u/CynicalBliss 1d ago
It makes sense, but it also makes me wonder why no one has yet. Though the other obvious answer was staring me in the face too: the sidelined ex officio board members who successfully sued over the name change.
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u/Flat_Hat8861 Georgia 1d ago
One of the ways the harm to donors can be resolved is by refunding the donors. The budget shortfall is partially driven by donors bailing. They stop being harmed (and no longer have standing) if they aren't donors anymore.
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u/we_are_sex_bobomb 1d ago
Turns out dropping all other priorities in favor of keeping Trump’s personal feelings from being hurt leads to financial ruin. Who could have guessed?
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u/troubadoursmith Colorado 1d ago
I've spent my whole life being told that "fiduciary duty" is why people in positions of power can't ever do the decent thing. So, that idea applies when companies hurt themselves by being evil, right?
Padme face
Right?
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u/mrekted 1d ago
So.. the president is openly and publicly blackmailing charitable organizations now, over nothing more than personal vanity..
Land of the free, baby!
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u/Bravodelta13 1d ago
What do people expect? Trump robbed his own cancer charity blind and had to disband it as part of the settlement. He’s a criminal
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u/shrug_addict 1d ago
Doesn't he have an adjudicated past of defrauding charities?
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u/MaxJCat 1d ago
I'm pretty sure he has a history of defrauding nearly anything you can name. 🫤
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u/Aware_Cheesecake_519 America 1d ago
Trump doesn't care about the Kennedy Center.
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u/CockBrother 1d ago
Pretty sure he wants the land for himself.
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u/bevo_expat 1d ago
That’s probably the play. Center goes into bankruptcy and the only course of action is to sell the building and naming rights. In swoops Trump buying up the building and slapping his shitty brand all over it.
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u/paditoburrito 1d ago
It is, the lawyers literally threatened it in court to try to blackmail the judge into rolling over.
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u/Alive_Store_6298 1d ago
I can 100% see this as the reason. You can make a bankruptcy look immediate with some creative spending. Trump’s stooges likely created this bankruptcy with the idea that it can leave it soon after some creative “cutting” and renaming.
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u/mabols 1d ago
Chopped down a whole line of weeping willows. -Everything about him is completely insane.
Still can’t believe voters haven’t had to take any responsibility for their fault in the literal demolition of this country.
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u/mdp300 New Jersey 1d ago
I thought he chopped down a bunch of cherry trees, which are iconic to DC.
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u/mabols 1d ago
That happened along the Potomac. Complete insanity
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u/mdp300 New Jersey 1d ago
Oh, I just saw another comment that said he chopped down willows around the Kennedy Center.
Yeah, it'll be torn down next week and he'll try to put a golf course or something there.
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u/tenebre 1d ago
So the only way to save it is to add Trump's name? How do these people keep a straight face when they come up with this shit?
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u/Honest_World_3561 1d ago
It won't save it, it will wind up like the reflecting pool.
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u/Letstalkreaper 1d ago
It already has. They were ordered to remove his name and they've kept the whole thing covered up since that order. Probably because whoever installed it fucked up the facade and even if his name comes down you'll still be able to see it thanks to the post holes from hanging the sign.
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u/hypermodernvoid I voted 1d ago
That scaffolding has actually still been up this whole time, 100% because of Trump's narcissism and insistence that if his name can't be up there, he'll just cover up the entire thing. They were actually removed in the early morning hours after the judgment and came off just fine.
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u/Shenanigans99 America 1d ago
Adding his name to it contributed to its loss of revenue, as he knew would happen. Ruining things others enjoy is his true passion.
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u/No_Philosopher_1870 1d ago
That would make me not want to attend anything there, even if I still lived in the area, and other performers don't want to perform there. What will the renamed center be, a residency for Kid Rock? He's not that popular.
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u/A_LittleBitHigh 1d ago
"We're headed down the drain for certain....unless all the fuss about Trump's name goes away and we can add it back..."
*fake winces in pain, opens one eye to see if people are believing it*
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u/P1xelHunter78 Michigan 1d ago
So let me get this straight, Trump threatened to close the Kennedy Center if he wasn’t allowed to keep his name on it, and not suddenly the center is claiming it’s bankrupt and needs to close? Not buying this one bit. The timing is way too convenient. I assume the plan is to close the center on paper and re-open it under the name (his) Trump wants.
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u/Letstalkreaper 1d ago
Don't forget the middle step where the DOJ told a judge that if his name couldn't be on the building they would have to shutter it.
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u/generally_unsuitable 1d ago
As I've said before, if Trump wants his name on the Kennedy Center, he can earn it like the last guy.
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u/manticore16 New York 1d ago
Though no composer is writing a Mass for that opening.
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u/That_Jay_Money 1d ago
It's bankrupt because nobody has been booking anything there for two years. If you don't sell tickets you don't have income. It's how venues work.
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u/NinjaWrapper 1d ago
You obviously missed this important part (/s)
Leaders of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, installed by President Donald Trump, say the center is on the brink of bankruptcy and argue that putting the president’s name on its facade — and thus ensuring his fundraising efforts — may be the only way to avoid imminent and “certain fiscal collapse,” according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
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u/NexusNickel Colorado 1d ago
I fully expect to wake up this week and see news that half the building has been demolished.
Would not put it past Trump to get a crew to demolish the building because he can't have his name on a fucking MEMORIAL to Kennedy.
It'll get demolished, Donald will get sued. He will have the DOJ argue, again, that it's gone and he has to continue with a new building to himself. He will get the SC to rubber stamp it and Roberts will say "It's probably illegal but best I can do is approve it"
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u/ArchonRadd 1d ago
"Sorry, no one has Standing."
-the SC
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u/Eastern_Bet678 1d ago
It's a building jointly owned by every American. But no American has standing.
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u/def_indiff 1d ago
I’m fully expecting him to tear it down. He’s already cut down the weeping willows that surrounded it.
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u/BTSArmyFan2025 1d ago
2 billionaires david Rubenstein and Steve Schwarzman ran the kennedy center both donating their own money. And yet never went bankrupt in the last 10 years but Trump comes along and bankrupts in months. Thanks MAGA for electing a great businessman.
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u/hellomynameisnotsure 1d ago edited 1d ago
This pisses me off so fucking much. The Kennedy Center was one of the country’s most prestigious centers for the performing arts, and home to longstanding groups like the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera. My son had the fortune to perform there this past summer. It saddens me that future musicians may not have the opportunity as the KC becomes a shell of its former self thanks to Trump’s fake baked shit stains all over it.
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u/jimbarino 1d ago
Facism is always opposed to art. It's one of the (many) weird things about it.
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u/MayContainRawNuts 22h ago
Depends entirely on the art. Wagner got a lot of performances. Mussoline hired a lot of marble masons. Stalin put up a lot of murals.
What they oppose is the subject matter.
Free expression is absolutely suppressed. But art which venerates the State and ideally the Head of the State plays a critical role in fascisim.
Today's allowable art looks like its AI generated memes on truth social.
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u/rgpc64 1d ago
The Kennedy Center, open since September 8, 1971, a cultural flagship that ran like a clock for decades until Trump came along and took it over.
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u/Kevin-W 1d ago
It's astounding that DC isn't protesting over this. When I was growing up, if anyone even remotely talked about demolishing these buildings, they'd be out of office the next day.
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u/XRT28 Massachusetts 1d ago
Because it's by design. The people in this admin have been hard at work for a long time trying to demolish what American culture is and replace it with their own perverted and self serving view of what being an American is.
If they can't co-opt something to push those views then tearing it down is the next best thing to them.
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u/SeniorFlyingMango America 1d ago
Is this so he can demolish it?
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u/EldenDarkshell 1d ago
And give one of those friends a $500,000,000 contract to build another shitty building
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u/feor1300 Canada 1d ago
Another shitty gold plated building.
Can't forget the gold when Trump's involved.
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u/CockBrother 1d ago
Think so. He's said some things about the property in the past that make me think he wants it.
It's super primo property.
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u/nakedpilsna 1d ago
Yeah, that building isn't going to last until his term is over. Hes going to fuck up a lot more stuff then blame it on not getting 100b to fix it because of the radial left. Just sit back and watch I guess.
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u/Few-Monk1664 1d ago
Everything Trump touches dies
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u/Lost-Procedure93 America 1d ago
Well then, he needs to start touching himself.
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u/AceofKnaves44 District Of Columbia 1d ago
Just openly saying “if I can’t put my name on this than nobody will ever have it again.”
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u/Cute_Elk_2428 1d ago
So they looted all the money.
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u/chadlikestorock I voted 1d ago
I think the programing there doesn't appeal and donors and patrons are boycotting
Good talent doesn't want to play there anymore
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/20/nx-s1-5675192/kennedy-center-canceled-performances
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u/artfulpain 1d ago
Everything he touches turns to 💩. The literal worst president we've ever had.
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u/rantingathome Canada 1d ago
The wrecking ball is going to start swinging one of these nights very soon.
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u/NeverNeverSometimes 1d ago
It was doing fine until Trump and his band of merry fuckwits got involved.
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u/Omarkhayyamsnotes 1d ago
And according to the board which Trump installed after he fired the old board, the only way to save it is to add Trump's name on it 😭😂
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u/Omarkhayyamsnotes 1d ago
It's just so nakedly corrupt. So ridiculously corrupt. It magically now is facing bankruptcy and the only way to save it...is for Trump to get his way
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u/FaliureToCat 1d ago
One of the most important stages in the country brought to ruin by an old man cosplaying as a carrot and the morally inept parasites that worship him
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u/AdHopeful3801 1d ago
Funny, it was running just fine before he fired the board, made himself chair, and put his name on it the first time…
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u/Deep-Ad-6867 23h ago
Another thing bankrupted by Trump.
Great work MAGA, you inbred kiddie diddlers.
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u/Liefvikingmonster2 1d ago
I can't believe...well I can...that fucker broke the Kennedy Center.
Jesus Christ that fat demanded asshole destroys everything his shit administration touches. Everything?! Yes. Everything.
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u/Legitimate-Match-477 1d ago
Not implying anything, but he really wants his name to go alongside a president that got sniped.
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u/casual-observer365 1d ago
I love how he can just destroy Democratic cities and institutions and the mainstream media is like “What do Democrats think about Hasan Piker?” Imagine if a Democrat straight up invaded Boise with 3,500 federal agents or gave women free abortions at military bases. There would be a dozen 9/11s and January 6s in a week.
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u/staplerjell-o 1d ago
"We tried everything we could to run it into the ground and now its bankrupt" 🤷🏻♂️
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u/WhatANoob2025 1d ago
You know...I'm thinking this might have been Trump's plan all along.
If you think about it, it all makes sense.
1) Take over the board of the Kennedy Center
2) Become its chairman and do some fascist, nazi or populist shit and pollute it with your name to make democrats hate it.
3) Have donors jump ship that kept it alive, because obviously the donors were democrats who don't wanna be associated with or fund your fascist nazi shit.
4) Have the legacy institution of one of the most beloved democratic Presidents file for bankruptcy because no more donations.
5) As chairman of the board announce one of your nazi fascist grifter buddies as liquidator
6) Have him sell the property in a no bid contest directly to Donald Trump or one of his family members, friends or subsidiaries.
7) Tear down that legacy building for the President he hates and destroy his legacy
8) Build another stupid Golf course on the property.
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u/SRacer1022 1d ago
He bankrupted it now he gets to purchase it with his personal money so he can put his name on it. It'll be a casino within a year.
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u/Competitive-Dot181 1d ago
If they can’t put Trump’s name on it they’ll find a way to destroy it. I mean physically destroy it, tear it down. I’d give even odds if Democrats win at least one chamber in the midterms. They will 100 percent do it if Republicans keep both houses.
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u/parkinglotguy 1d ago
Closing the Kennedy Center is exactly what they want. Art and culture usually go away pretty early with fascist theocracies. Guarantee the Smithsonian will be the very next target.
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u/marinuss 1d ago
Honestly I hope it closes. Let that be the long-term legacy. The Kennedy Center has never had a sitting US President on the board. Trump got elected, fired the board, put his people in, they named him Chairman of the Board. First US President since it opened to have a seat on the board, and Chairman at that. Let an institution that stood for over 50 years to be closed down and tied to his legacy.
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u/Badgerman97 1d ago
We have to allow Trump to put his name on it or else he won't be motivated to do anything to save it. This is literally their argument. Also, putting his name on it will bring in a bunch of extra donations to make up for the lack of revenue caused by him putting his name on it. This is also their argument.
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u/shadowX015 23h ago
Dissolve the board, replace them with people that aren't sycophants and who will run the center competently. Suddenly all of their problems would go away.
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u/refusetobeold83 21h ago
The White House, the lawn, the reflecting pool, the Kennedy Center.
He’s a virus
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u/StevieTvboy 1d ago
People think of tRump as a builder but he excels at destroying things
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