WASHINGTON – Justice Department lawyers argued that without President Donald Trump's support for renovating the Kennedy Center – including putting his name on the building and grounds – the "decrepit, dilapidated, crumbling" venue "cannot be saved."
Congress has approved $257 million for the project. But government lawyers argued that without Trump's additional fundraising aiming for more than $100 million, the work can't be completed.
The lawyers said a board member fighting the placement of his name on the building, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, should prefer that to having the building destroyed.
"The crisis is so acute that, without the Trump Administration, its people, and President Trump, the Center cannot survive, either structurally or financially," government lawyers said in a filing Aug. 25. "The bottom line is this: Even Beatty should prefer a healthy, restored Center to a decaying hulk that is doomed to inevitable destruction or collapse."
Protesters wave a US flag and hold a sign reading "you're no JFK" as workers build scaffolding near the signage for the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" in Washington, DC, on June 12, 2026. A US federal judge on June 12 rejected a bid by the board of the Kennedy Center and the Justice Department to halt the removal of President Donald Trump's name from the performing arts venue. District Judge Christopher Cooper, in a ruling last month, ordered Trump's name taken off the iconic building in the nation's capital by Friday.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper scheduled a hearing Aug. 27 to determine whether Trump's name should be blocked permanently from the building and grounds.
Cooper previously ordered the removal of Trump's name from the façade, after it was added during the renovation. And Cooper temporarily prevented the venue from closing during construction by ruling that the board had acted too hastily.
The board took a more deliberative process at an Aug. 13 meeting to decide to close the building for two years rather than work on renovations during partial closures over four years. The shorter schedule is projected to cost $285 million and the longer one $580 million.
"Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years," government lawyers said.
The board also voted to restore Trump's name to the façade and add it to the grounds.
The board voted to rename the building: "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump."
If Trump's fundraising for the project reaches $100 million, the façade would read: "The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund."
The board also voted to name the grounds beneath the venue "President Donald J. Trump Plaza."
Government lawyers contend those moves don't violate the 1964 statute creating the center named for the late president, but merely recognize Trump for his contributions.
"Instead, the inscriptions only describe President Trump's role as the one responsible for the Center's renovation and restoration," the lawyers said.
But Beatty has called the naming moves "a breathtaking act of defiance" in filing an emergency motion asking Cooper to prevent Trump from restoring his name to the building.
"It bears emphasis: On the law, the latest renaming resolution is a breathtaking act of defiance," Beatty's filing said. "Moreover, the Board has determined to add the specific term 'Trump Kennedy Center' back onto the building – a jawdropping flouting of this Court's prohibition on use of that specific term."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump admin says Kennedy Center 'to be taken down' without renovations