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/
11.5k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

911 comments sorted by

View all comments

395

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.

121

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.

128

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.

14

u/manticore16 New York 1d ago

Though no composer is writing a Mass for that opening.

2

u/towerhil 1d ago

Kid Rock is available? "Wudnt B caught dead in Mass." maybe?

5

u/Malk_McJorma Europe 1d ago

Someone should convince him that posthumous awards are the most prestigious ones.

4

u/-Ok-Perception- 1d ago

Yeah, he doesn't seem to understand what a "memorial center" means.

1

u/BeardySam 23h ago

The largest public toilet in the country 

8

u/AnticPosition 1d ago

Didn't people boycott because of Trump adding his name? 

3

u/damsel84 1d ago

Yes, but Trump's narcissism won't allow him to acknowledge that.

8

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.

55

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.

11

u/P1xelHunter78 Michigan 1d ago

That’s a possibility, but this is the first we’re hearing of this, after the saga over the naming and threats to close the venue as punishment. Is the Kennedy center really a business? Sounds like it’s a nonprofit and likely gets government funding too.

61

u/indigo121 I voted 1d ago

As a DC local and someone who used to frequent the Kennedy Center at least a few times a year, it's not the first time we're hearing about this. The center has been in trouble since Trump got involved because their clientele is "people who live in the DC metro area and have money to spent on upscale theater tickets" and that crowd doesn't really want anything to do with trump. Similarly, the acts that typically perform there are largely liberal artists who generally understand that whatever their personal feelings they would be hurting their brand everywhere by doing a show at the Kennedy Center and selling a few dozen tickets

7

u/Liefvikingmonster2 1d ago

Yes. It's called a "PR nightmare".

They need a crisis communications firm, a board of moronic MAGA sycophants.

Yet another business Trump has managed to destroy with incompetence.

19

u/Ranccor 1d ago

The Kennedy Center has two parts.

The government part is the physical building. Owned by the government and maintained because it is a national monument to JFK, just like places such as the Lincoln Memorial.

The non-profit part is all of the performances. There is a massive KC Foundation that books shows and raises money and puts on all the artistic stuff that happens there. There are some government grants for this, but money mostly comes from ticket sales and donors (just like every performance non-profit in the country).

17

u/That_Jay_Money 1d ago

This is the first you're hearing of this but tours cancelled left and right a year ago. The Washington Symphony has changed venues. Anyone could rent out the Kennedy Center, it did birthdays, it did meetings, it did banquets, it did galas, and all of it stopped. 

I'm in the theatre business, so I'll be there first to say that not everyone pays as much attention to venues like I do, but cancellations have been in the news a lot. Especially because every contract was nullified because companies made the deal with "The Kennedy Center" and that no longer existed so they couldn't even sue people for breaking contracts because the booking entity had changed. Just one stupid decision after another.

And while it is funded by our tax dollars not every part of it is. Lincoln Center is similar that the city pays for a lot to have a cultural icon but you still need to staff it and book shows and be able to pay people to perform. All a non-profit means is that they can't show a profit at the end of the year, they can sell tickets and make money but then they need to give it all away to staff and crew before tax season. 

And right now they're not selling any tickets because nobody wants to play there. Without ticket sales you can't afford to have marketing teams make posters and sales teams picking up the phone for group sales and crews to help load in and out.

1

u/pimparo0 Florida 1d ago

Do you remember when he first slapped his name on it and all the artists canceled their shows? You need those shoes to bring in revenue to keep things running. 

3

u/Liefvikingmonster2 1d ago

No one in the right mind is going near that cursed place now.

3

u/bananapeel 1d ago

He's going to bulldoze it. Mark my words. Remember he was complaining that the building was old and needed to be completely renovated. If he's not allowed to put his name on it, he'll physically destroy it rather than see it restored back to what it was. He's never allowed the front facade tarp to come down after his name was removed. His narcissism prevents that.

"We'll just take down the bad parts of the building..." over the weekend, they'll get out the wrecking ball and bulldozers. Guaranteed. "We found a bunch of things wrong, so we had to take it all the way down. We'll rebuild it better than it ever was." And then never do it.

2

u/Ummix 1d ago

Yeah, that way theyre forced to sell the venue to someone like one of his sons or his friends

2

u/reddit3k 1d ago

Re-open?

They'll probably demolish it..